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LIFE AND ADVENTURES 



OF 




essejame; 



THE 



NOTED WESTERN OUTLAWS, 



BY 



HON. J. A. DACUS, Ph. D. 



' Strange^ murmurs fill my tingling ears, 
Bristles my hair, my sinews quake, 
At this dread tale of reckless deeds." 



ILLUSTRATED. 

ST. LOUIS: 

W. S. BRYAN, Publisher, 

602 North Fourth Street. 

San Francisco: A L. BANCROFT & CO., 721 Market Street 

Indianapolis: FRED. L. HORTON & CO., 66 East Market Street 

CincAGO: J. S, GOODMAN, 142 LaSalle Street. 

t88o. 






Uopyrighted, 1879. by W. S. BKYA>. 



s 






JESSE JAMES. 
FROM A LATE PHOTOGRAPH. 



Copyrighted, 1880, by W. S. Bryan. Tlie copyright laws 

■w-ill be rigidly enforced against any person making 

or disposing of copies of this picture. 




-^;§js«^ 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I.— The James Family. —The Rev. Robert 
Tames — His marriage — Removal to Missouri — His death 
in California, ----- ii-?6 

CHAPTER H.— Frank and Jesse.— Their childhood and 
youth — They desire firearms — Youthful Nimrods — Pistol 
practice, ------ I7~24 

CHAPTER HI.— In the Guerrilla Camp.— Frank joins 
Quantrell — Outrage on Dr. Samuels and Jesse — Mrs. 
Samuels and daughter, Susie James, arrested — ^Jesse as a 
courier for the Guerrillas, . - - 25-28 

CHAPTER IV.— Bloody War.— The hatreds of the border 
people — The partisan rangers — Frank James as a scout — 
Fight at Plattsburg, . . - ^ 29-34 

CHAPTER v.— At THE Sack of Lawrence, Kansas.— 
The black flag unfurled— The Guerrillas mass their 
forces — The march to Lawrence — Capture of the town — 
Frank and Jesse participate, - - - 35~39 

CHAPTER VI.— A Gory Record.— The cruel strife of the 
border — Death In the thickets — Quantrell and his follow- 
ers, ------ 40-56 

CHAPTER VII.— Adventures in Separate Fields.— 
Frank James follows Quantrell into Kentucky— Fierce 
partisan contests — Death of Quantrell — Jesse follows 
George Shepherd to Texas— The last fight of the war- 
Jesse wounded, ----- S7~^S 

CHAPTER VIIL— The Brandenburg Tragedy.— Frank 
James followed by four men — They attempt to arrest him 
— Terrible fight — Frank wounded in the left hip — Con- 
cealed by friends, - - - - 66-70 

CHAPTER IX.— The Liberty Bank Affair.— A great 
robbery — St. Valentine's day, and the prize drawn by 
bold marauders— The James Boys accused of the crime, 71-73 

CHAPTER X.— Jesse's Sortie against the Militiamen. 
— Attacked at night— I'he family council of war — Jesse 
desires to look out on the cold moonlight scene — Throws 
tlie door open and fires upon the mihtiamen — Three 
corpses on the crisp snow, - _ - 74~77 

CHAPTER XL— In the Hands of Friends.— Jesse goes 
to Kentucky — Among his relatives and friends — Placed 
under the careof Dr. Paul F. Eve — A good time, 78-81 



82-90 



5 CONTENtS. 

CHAPTER XII.— The Russellville Bank Robbery.-- 
A large haul— The James Boys connected with the rob- 
bery—They ride away on George Shepherd's hoijes— 
» Shepherd arrested and imprisoned— Death of OH hhep- 
herd— Persistent pursuit of the robbers— The Jameses 
escape, ---""" 

CHAPTER XIII.— On the Pacific Slope.— Jesse James 
sails for California— At Paso Robel— Frank goes \\ est— 
On the Laponsu ranch— Adventures in Nevada— A dark 
seance— The Boys return to the East, - - 9^ 

CHAPTER XIV.— Were They Driven to Outlawry?— 
The peculiar circumstances surrounding the Jameses- 
Social and political ostracism— The vinilance commit- 
tees—Not allowed to remain at peace in their own home 
— They go forth as enemies of society, - - i^S ^°/ 

CHAPTER XV.— The Gallatin Bank Tragedy.— Stran-e 
men in Gallatin— They call upon the cashier— Captam 
John W. Sheets shot by Jesse James— Pursuit of the man 
slayers— The escape of the robbers, - - loS III 

CHAPTER XVI.— Attempts to Arrest the Boys.— The 
people aroused— Detectives on the trail of the Boys — 
Their neighbors arrayed against them— Captain Thoma- 
son expresses himself— He is interviewed by Mrs. Sam- 
uels— Failure of all efforts to arrest them, - I12-115 

CHAPTER XVII. — Outrage at Columbia, Kentucky. — 
The citizens of Adair county, Kentucky, startled— Bold 
daylight robbery of the bank at Columbia — Murder of the 
cashier, Mr. Martin— Chasing the robbers— The maraud- 
ers escape, _ . - - - 1 10-12 

CHAPTER XVIII. ^Out of Exile. — Domestic and social 
relations of the Boys— Their visits to the cities— The 
theaters and concert stage— Life in hotels — How the 
Jameses play the part of gentlemen, - - 122-130 

CHAPTER XIX.— The Corydon Raid.— The robbers pay 
a visit to Iowa — Their sudden appearance at Corydon — 
They secure a large sum of .money and ride away — Hot 
pursuit by Iowa officers- Jesse as a rustic, - 13^-^33 

CHAPTER XX. — The Cash Box of the Fair. — Frank and 
Jesse at Kansas City— The gate money seized and car- 
ried away— The pool cashier interviewed by Frank, 134-13^ 

CHAPTER XXI. — Ste. Genevieve. — The cashier of the 
bank at Ste. Genevieve surprised — Narrow escape of 
young Rozier-^The bank plundered by the raiders — 
Escag^eofthe robbers, - - - - 139-145 



CONTENTS. 7 

CHAPTER XXII.— A Railway Train Robbed in Iowa. — 
A night vigil — On the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific 
railway line — A locomotive ditched and a fireman killed 
— A successful raid, . - - - 146-150 

CHAPTER XXIIL— The Gaines' Place Stage Robbery.— 
How the invalids en route to Hot Springs were plundered 
on the Malvern road — Scenes and incidents of the robbery 
— Grim jokes at the expense of the passengers, - 151-158 

CHAPTER XXIV.— Gadshill.— A starthng sensation— The 
robbers at the lonely wayside station — The passengers 
made prisoners and robbed, . . _ I59~^^5 

CHAPTER XXV.— After Gadshill.— Pursuit of the rob- 
bers — Trailed through southern Missouri to St. Clair 
county — Diversions in Bentonville, Arkansas — The cam- 
paign leads to a tragedy, - - _ - 166-172 

CHAPTER XXVI.— Which er's Ride to Death.— The 
brave detective caught in a trap — Jim Latche's observa- 
tions in Liberty — The use he made of his knowledge — 
The last night ride— Whicher shot, - - 173-181 

CHAPTER XXVII.— A Night Raid of Detectives.— At- 
tempt to avenge Whicher's death — Preparing a trap to 
catch Frank and Jesse at the Samuels place — Fire balls 
and bomb shells — A terrible scene — Death of a boy and 
wounding of Mrs. Samuels, ... 182-190 

CHAPTER XXVIIL— Proposed Amnesty.— Movement in 
the Legislature — Gen. Jones' amnesty bill — Jesse quietly 
awaits the turn of events — Failure of the bill to pass in 
the Legislature — Taking vengeance, - - 191-195 

CHAPTER XXIX.— San Antonio-Austin Stage Plun- 
dered. — Bandits on the prairies — Strange horsemen at 
eventide — The siage halted — The passengers plundered, 196-201 

CHAPTER XXX.— Farmer Askew's Fate.— The house of 
Askew — The farmer incurs the hatred of the James 
Boys — Vengeance threatened — Assassinated while stand- 
ing on his porch — Jesse and Frank believed to be the 
guilty parties, . - - - . 202-207 

CHAPTER XXXI.— Gold Dust— The Muncie Busi- 
ness. — Lying in wait — The evening train bound from 
the mining regions — Golden galore — The train stopped 
by masked men and the express car plundered, - 208-210 

CHAPTER XXXIL— Huntington, West Virginia, Bank 
RoBBFriY. — A band of robbers in the streets — The people 
alarmed — Demand upon Mr. Oney — The robbers make 
off with the bank's funds— Capture of Jack Kean, and 



S CONTENTS. 

death of McDaniels — The handiwork of the Jameses 

shown, ------ 112-2I4 

CHAPTER XXXIII.— Jesse's Wooing and Wedding.— 
Courting under difficulties — A fair cousin — She admires 
the outlaw — The courtship continues, and Jesse takes 
his cousin as his bride, - . - - 216-222 

CHAPTER XXXIV.— A Dream of Love.— Frank James 
cherishes tender sentiments and goes a-wooing — A fair 
girl, beautiful and accompUshed — Frank's suit encour- 
aged, .... - . 223-227 

CHAPTER XXXV.— Fair Annie Ralston, the Out- 
law's Bride. — How Annie Ralston carried off the hon- 
ors of her class at college — A belle in society — Her ad- 
miration for Frank James — She quietly collects her ef- 
fects, and leaves her home to share his fate with Fi-ank, 228-233 

CHAPTER XXXVL— A Seventeen Thousand Dollar 
Haul. — The train robbery at Otterville — The Youngers 
and the Jameses — Frank James the planner — How the 
train was halted — Capture of Hobbs Kerry — He gives 
away the gang — The escape, - - - 234-245 

CHAPTER XXXVIL— In Minnesota.— The bandits seek a 
new field — Frank James and the Younger Brothers — Bill 
Chadwell, Miller and Pitts — The long ride, - 246-254 

CHAPTER XXXVIII.— The Attack at Northfield— 
Haywood's Death — The raid on the bank — The cashier 
shot — Bill Chadwell killed in the street — The citizens 
come to the rescue — Fusilades in the town — The bandits 
forced to go out in quick time — A hot pursuit — Capture 
of the Youngers, - - - - _ 255-266 

CHAPTER XXXIX. —Escape of Frank and Jesse James. 
The terrible retreat — Worn out, and yet no chance for 
rest — A remarkable escape — They disappear from the 
very midst of those who were hunting them — How they 
went away, ----._ 267-273 

CHAPTER XL.— A Visit to Carmen.— Frank and Jesse go 
into Mexico — They rest at Carmen, in Chihuahua — The 
silver conducla — They join the Mexican party — Capture 
of the treasure bags of the Mexicans, - - 274-282 

CHAPFERXLI.— The Robbers and their Friends.— The 
various classes of people who exhibit friendship for the 
Jameses — Some are bad men, who ijather about them be- 
cause they are brave — Social peculiarities, - - 283-290 

CHAPTER XLIL— Excursions into Mexico.— Wild ad- 
ventures beyond the border — Chasing Mexican cattle- 



CONTENTS. 9 

thieves — A serious time at Monclova — Frank and Jesse 

escape, .-..-_ 291-299 

CHAPTER XLIIL— Death to Border Brigands.— Frank 

and Jesse pay their respects to Palacios' band — The raid 
ers of the border punished by the American outlaws — A 
pleasant meeting with troops, - - - 300-313 

CHAPTER XLIV.— The Union Pacific Express Rob- 
bery. — The Big Springs ventures — Tiie persons who en- 
gaged in it — Large amount of gold coin taken — Pursuit 
of tlie robbers — Death of Collins at Buffalo, Kansas — 
Jim Berry trailed to Missouri — Shot by the sheriff of 
Audrain county, - - - - _ 314-325 

CHAPTER XLV.— A Visit to the Home of Frank 
James — A Georgian's experience with the great outlaws — 
The home life of Frank, - - - _ 326-336 

CHAPTER XLVL— Epistles of Jesse James.— How Jesse 
takes liis own part with a pen — Some terse specimens of 
Jesse's style, 337-344 

CHAPTER XLVH.- Glendale.— The last great train rob- 
bery — A night ride to a lonely wayside station — How the 
robbery was eiTected, - - . _ 345-353 

CHAPTER XLVHI.- Hunting Clues.— Marshal Liggett— 
His efforts to hunt down the robbers — Jesse James once 
more to the front, - - - _ _ 354-356 

CHAPTER XLIX— George W. Shepherd.— The child- 
hood and youth of Shepherd — His adventures in Utah — 
Enters the Confederate service — Joins Quantrell's band — 
Gets into trouble with the gang at the time of Russell- 
ville — Becomes inimical to the Jameses — Engages with 
Marshal Liggett — Joins the band — The Short Creek 
fight, 357-367 

CHAPTER L. — Pursuit of the Glendale Robbers. — 
Shepherd goes south with the gang — He plans an am- 
buscade — Failure of his plan — The robbers suspicious 
of Shepherd — The fight in the forest, - - 368-374 

CHAPTER LL — Allen Parmer.— Becomes a member of 
Quantrell's band — Takes part in the sack of l^awrence — 
With Quantrell in Kentucky — Marries Jesse James' sis- 
ter — Accused of complicity with the Glendale robbers, - 375-379 

CHAP I F.R LH.— Jesse James still a Free Rov: r.— The 
sequel to the fight with Shepherd— Jesse and his wife 
visit relatives and friends in Kentucky — An unsuccess- 
lul attempt to capture the outlaw, - - . - 380-384 



LIFE AND ADVENTURES 

OF 

FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE JAMES FAMILY. 

" He was a godly man, 
Gentle and loving. He sought to save 
From mortal shame and eternal death, 
Forms laid in the silence of the grave." 

The Rev. Robert James, the father of Frank and 
Jesse, was a native of Kentucky. His parents were 
quiet, respectable people, belonging to the middle 
class of society. Their desire was to raise up their 
children ** in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord." Being themselves persons of intelligence 
and culture, far above the averas^e of their neip:hbors 
in those days, the parents of Rev. Robert James re- 
solved to give him as good an education as the facil- 
ities accessible to them would permit. Accordingly, 
Robert was early placed in a neighboring school, 
and made such progress as to gladden the hearts of 
his parents, and call forth auguries of future distinc- 
tion from the friends and neighbors. of the family. 



12 LIFE AND ADVENTURES 6P 

Robert James was a moral, studious youth, m.uch 
given to reflection on subjects of a reli$:^ious charac- 
ter. Before he liad attained his eighteenth year, he 
had made an open profession of faith in the Chris- 
tian rehgion, and united himself with a Baptist 
church, of which his parents were members. After 
passing through the various grades of an academic 
course, young James entered as a student of George- 
town College, Kentucky. Resolving to follow the 
profession of a minister, he commenced the study of 
Theology, was licensed to preach, and began 
his ministry in his twentieth year. Even then he was 
regarded as a youth of decided culture and more than 
ordinary ability. 

While yet a young man, Rev. Mr. James decided 
to remove to the then new State of Missouri. He 
settled on a farm in Clay county, and commenced in 
earnest the onerous duties of a pioneer preacher. 
His labors were not unrewarded. He soon had the 
satisfaction of garnering the harvest of his sowing. 
A congregation was gathered and a church organ- 
ized in Clay county, called New Hope, which is still 
in existence. For some years the Rev. Mr. James 
ministered to the people who had been gathered by 
his exertions, with great acceptance. Nor were his 
labors confined to the spiritual welfare of the people 
of New Hope. He visited many distant churches, 
and preached with great acceptance in many places. 

Old citizens of Clay county still entertain pleasant 
recollections of the earnest. God-fearing pastor, who 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 1 3 

went about only to do good, by cheering the des- 
pondent, consoling the sorrowful, assisting the needy, 
upholding the weak, confirming the hesitating, and 
p> tinting tlie way of salvation to the penitent. 
Everywhere, in that region of country, he was held 
in the very highest esteem. So the years of his 
early manhood passed away while he was engaged 
in the commendable effort to better the condition, by 
purifying the moral nature of his friends and neigh- 
bors. 

In 1850, following in the footsteps of hundreds of 
others, Rev. Robert James bade adieu to his family, 
friends and neighbors, and set out for ''the golden 
land" of California, on a prospecting tour. We do 
not know what motives actuated him in making this 
move, nor is it pertinent to this relation. He went 
away, and was destined to return no more. Not 
long after his arrival in California, whither he had 
been preceded by a brother, Rev. Mr. James was 
stricken by a mortal disease which terminated his 
life in a short time. Far avv^ay from home, where 
the tall sequoias rear their lofty branches above the 
plain, on a gentle slope which catches the last beams 
of the setting sun, they laid the minister to rest, in a 
soil unhallowed by the dust of kinsmen, in a grave 
unbedewed by the tears of loved ones left behind. 

When yet a young man. Rev. Mr. James was uni- 
ted in marriage to Miss Zerelda Cole, a native of 
Scott county, Kentucky. Mrs. James is a lady of 
great detcrmi nation of raind, and a masculine for^^^ 



14 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

of character. Those who knew the couple in the 
old days seem to think that the minister and his wife 
were an ill-assorted pair. He was gentle and amia- 
ble, while, on the contrary, his wife was strong in 
passion, and of a very bitter, unrelenting temper — 
traits of character prominently developed in her 
sons, Frank and Jesse. It is said that the home-life 
of the minister was not as smooth as it might have 
been, had he been united with a companion of a less 
passionate and exacting temper. With his domestic 
life, however, we have nothing to do, except in so far 
as the home influences thrown around his children 
gave direction to their character, and tinged their 
mental disposition. Whatever home-cares he might 
have had, the public has little cause to inquire now. 
He went down to death with a stainless name long 
years before his sons entered upon a career of crime, 
and made their names a terror to those who care to 
obey the dictates of justice, love and mercy. 

Mrs. Zerelda James was left a widow, having the 
responsible charge of a family of four small children. 
She was not left unprovided for, as Mr. James was a 
prudent, careful man of business, and had already 
established a comfortable home. With that courage 
and determination which is so prominently manifest- 
ed in her character, Mrs. James commenced the bat- 
tle of life as the head of the family. With all the 
favoring circumstances, the task assumed by her was 
not a light one. But she was equal to the perform- 
ance of any required service. 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 1$ 

The years went by, and Frank and Jesse and their 
sisters were advancing' toward manhood and woman- 
hood. The mother was not neglectful of their men- 
tal training, and the children were very regular in 
their attendance at a neighboring district school. 

So passed away six years of Mrs. Zerelda James' 
widowhood, and life became lonely ; the children 
were growing up, and her cares and responsibilities 
seemed to increase as they advanced in age and 
stature. Though not of a romantic disposition, the 
widow James was yet young enough in years and 
comely enough in person to attract to her side more 
than one substantial citizen on matrimony intent. 

Among the number of those who sought to pro- 
duce a favorable impression on the widow's suscept- 
ible heart, was Dr. Reuben Samuels, who, like her- 
self, was a native of Kentucky. To him she was 
not indifferent. She listened to his plea, and in 1857 
they were united in marriage, near Kearney, Clay 
county, Missouri. Dr. Samuels at once undertook to 
perform the duty of a parent toward her children. 

Thus the career of the noted outlaws, the James 
Boys, was commenced, under auspices fully as favor- 
able as fell to the fortune of any of the boys of their 
own age, in their country home. And so the years 
rolled on, and the boys were approaching the estate 
of manhood ; while fate was shaping them to perform 
a part in those troublous times, of which they dreamed 
not in the days of bo}d"iood. 

One of the sisters of Frank and Jesse died just as 



1 6 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

she was approaching the estate of womanhood. She 
is represented as having been a beautiful and amia- 
ble child, who was called away from the world while 
life was still beautiful and all the promises of the 
future bright. Miss Susan James was arrested 
with her mother in the early part of the war and 
confined in the jail at St. Joseph for several months. 
Afterward she went to Nebraska and remained there 
for more than a year. She married a gentleman 
named Parmer, several years ago, and with her 
husband, resided for a time in Sherman, Texas. 
l''rom that place she removed to Hairiette, and 
was living there in 1 879. 

Mrs. Samuels had an eight year old son killed in 
January, 1875, when the detectives attacked the 
Samuels' house. A daughter, a half sister of Frank 
and Jesse, remains unmarried, and resides with Dr. 
and Mrs. Samuels, 



CHAPTER II. 

FRANK AND JESSE, 

** There will be storms 
In causeless, strange abuse, and the strong breath 
Of busy mouths will blow upon our course." 

Of prophecy, many have a doubt. And yet there 
are prophecies from simple lips, and warnings from 
babes and sucklings, which if we could but inter- 
pret aright, might assist us to change the whole cur- 
rents of life in a fellow being. 

Deeper than fear or doubting men are thrown into 
the great vortex of the world's thought and actions. 
What fortune or fate shall come to them, no one can 
tell. Every billow in that maelstrom seeks its own 
wild independence ; and the shores of that tumul- 
tuous deep — which we call human society — are 
strewn along with the dull wrecks of what were once 
glorious schemes — the bright day dreams — once 
borne buoyantly upon the topmost waves. These, 
and myriads of other schemes and hopes, are at last 
remanded to lie under the dark waters of the Sea of 
Fate, hidden so completely that no thought of man 
shall ever again recall them to memory. 

It is perhaps best so. It would be equivalent to 
the expulsion of all the joys of life to have opened 
before us the book of the future, wherein is recorded 

I 



1 8 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

the deeds which must be performed, and the sorrows 
which shall fall, dark and impenetrable — extinguish- 
ing every scintillation of joyous hope. 

It was best for Robert James, the minister, that 
he was called home before the shadows fell, before 
the prophet's voice gave warning of the things which 
should come to pass. It was well he was spared 
the revelation, so that when the summons came, in 
peace he drew around him the drapery of his couch, 
and while the brilliant sun of an undimmed faith 
shone full upon him, he laid aside the load of life, 
and went into the presence of the Deity, satisfied 
with a career which had more of love toward man- 
kind than displeasure at the conduct of the world. 

When their father was laid away in a far-off 
grave, Frank was but a *' wee boy," and Jesse stiU 
an infant. From him they had received few lessons' 
to guide them through the thorny ways of life. 
Their widowed mother became their counsellor and 
teacher. From her they had inherited their most 
pronounced traits of character — strong-willed, cour- 
ageous, self-assertive, and unrelenting toward those 
who had given cause of offense. 

Those who knew them during the days of their 
childhood and youth, differ widely in opinion con- 
cerning the character of the promise they gave of 
their future course in life. Some say they were 
" nice, well behaved boys," others that " they were 
about like other boys," and yet another class say 
that they were " bad boys, very bad boys from the 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. IQ 

beginning." There is no doubt that they were some- 
times "a Httle wild," as their best friends admit. We 
have accounts of some of their childish actions 
which indicate that even in early life they manifested 
a decided inclination to be malicious, not to say 
heartless and cruel. 

The step-father of the boys seems to be a man of 
amiable disposition, and his government over the 
children was far from being after the order of the 
traditional step-father. The consequence was Frank 
and Jesse advanced to the years of maturity with- 
out any of those healthful, restraining influences 
which moralists assure us are essential to the proper 
development of the higher qualities of manhood. 
Be that as it may, we have been assured by persons 
of the highest respectability, who were acquainted 
with them long before the commencement of the 
war between the States, that " they were their own 
masters " at a very early age, save only when their 
strong-willed mother asserted her prerogative to 
dominate over them, which, by the way, she seldom 
did. Among the boys of the neighborhood they 
were not without friends. But among them, they 
were leaders. Aside from a willingness on the. part 
of other boys to accept such leadership, the Jameses 
were exceedingly disagreeable, and generally at- 
tempted to enforce a due recognition of their 
superiority. Such were the great outlaws as boys. 

It is related of them, that when Frank was thir- 
teen, and Jesse eleven years of age respectively, 



20 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

they met a boy with whom at some previous time 
they had engaged in a childish wrangle. The lad 
who had incurred their ill-will was thirteen years old, 
well developed, and possessed of courage and deter- 
mination. Bat he was not able to engage success- 
fully in a contest with the brothers. It was in the 
spring time. The streams were full and deep. The 
boys met in a large forest. The Jameses attacked 
their neighbor, and succeeded in administering to 
him a severe beating. Not content with this, they 
procured thongs of tough bark, bound their victim 
securely and threw him into a deep pool in a neigh- 
boring stream. Several times was this ducking pro- 
cess repeated, to the great terror of the boy, and the 
infinite satisfaction of his tormentors. After satia- 
ting their vengeance in this way, until thoroughly 
wearied, the young tyrants drew him out and tied 
him securely to a tree in the midst of the gloomy 
forest. It w^as in the morning when they left him 
there, and he was not released until nearly dusk, 
when a neighbor, who was out in pursuit of squirrels, 
heard his cries and went to his assistance. The boy 
had suffered so much, that he was thrown into a 
fever, from which he did not recover in many weeks. 
These tyrant boys were the predecessors of the 
guerrillas and the outlaws. 

It was an early ambition of Frank* and Jesse to 
have and use fire-arms. Dr. Samuels presented each 
of them with a small double-barrel shot-gun, and the 
accompanying accoutrements of the sportsman. The 




In the Woods with their new Shot-Cuns. 



^2 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

day the gift was received was a proud and happy 
one to the boys. They soon learned to use them, 
and in a brief time they were expert shots, and many 
feathered songsters ceased to sing forever before 
their unerring aim. Rabbits, squirrels and other 
small game were their prey. 

But shot-guns lost their novelty after awhile, and 
they yearned for pistols. They had read or heard of 
the skill of the adventurers away out on the borders, 
and they dreamed of rivaling them some day. At 
last by dint of self-denial and persistent saving, 
Frank and Jesse were made glad by an opportunity 
which was offered to procure pistols, on the occasion 
of a visit to St. Joseph, which they were permitted 
to make in company with Dr. and Mrs. Samuels. 

We may safely conclude that the pistols were not 
of the pattern which the outlaws of the present day 
most esteem. But they had pistols, and the neigh- 
bors in the vicinity of the Samuels* residence very 
speedily became painfully aware of the fact, by the 
perpetual reports of their weapons while they were 
out " at practice," which was nearly every hour oi 
daylight. This constant practice gave them profi- 
ciency in the use of such weapons, and long before 
they had arrived at manhood's estate they were mas- 
ters of the art of pistol shooting. 

They became noted throughout the neighborhooa 
for their skill. So accurate had become their aim 
that they would measure a distance of fifteen paces 
from a tree standing in an open space, and commence 



24 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

walking around it, firing glancing shots as they 
walked, and so continuing until they had completely 
girdled the tree. Later in life they acquired such 
skill that they would ride at a full gallop around a 
circle, with a tree in its center, at a distance of sev- 
enty-five paces, firing as they rode, and entirely gir- 
dle the tree with revolver bullets, never losing a sin- 
gle shot. Thus Frank and Jesse had become mas- 
ters of an art which rendered them dangerous foes 
when the days of turmoil came. 

So the years passed away, and the lads had al- 
read)'- grown to be tall and shapely, when the tocsin 
of civil war rang throughout the land. They were 
not then old enough to enter at once upon the du- 
ties incumbent upon soldiers. But they were grow- 
ing apace, and the days of strife and bloodshed were 
not destined to pass away ere they grew strong 
enough to ride with the strongest, and bold enough 
to face danger with the most daring. 

We may well suppose that all their dreams at that 
momentous period were of war, bloodshed, and all 
the concomitant horrors of warfare. The shadow 
of Destiny had fallen athwart their pathway when 
the first gun was fired — the pandemonium of passion, 
still dormant in their breasts, was ready to be kin- 
dled in all its baleful fury. 



CHAPTER III. 

7N THE GUERRILLA CAMP. 

" Woe, ah, bitter woe ! 
The suffering mother and the moaning babe. 
The aged feeling in their veins the blood 
Chilling forever." 

At last the war-cloud, which had been hovering 
for months over our fair land, burst with a fury that 
was appalling. Cheeks were blanched and hearts 
were made tremulous in agony. Missouri was des- 
tined to realize a season of despair, such as has fallen 
upon few people in modern times. It was neighbor 
against neighbor, kinsman against kinsman, brother 
against brother, and vengeful hate burning up all 
that was merciful and good in human nature. The 
night of woe had descended. 

The appearance of the renowned Guerrilla chief- 
tain, Quantrell, on the border ; the stories which 
were circulated concerning his achievements ; the 
feverish state of the public mind, and the circum- 
stances in which the people of this State were in- 
volved, all contributed to exert a large influence 
over the minds of the youths and young men just 
coming upon the stage of life in the Western coun- 
ties. Cole Younger, who had not then been re- 
garded as " a wild lad," equally with Frank James, 
who had been so regarded, was attracted to the 



26 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

standard of the daring Guerrilla. In the vortex of 
passion which whirled through the land, all principles, 
love, justice, mercy and hope were swallowed up. 
Men were transformed by the baleful influence. 

Previous to the departure of Frank James for 
Quantrell's camp, there is no evidence that Dr. or 
Mrs. Samuels had been mistreated or in any way in- 
sulted by the Federal militia. The Samuels family 
were intensely attached to the Southern cause, and 
the very appearance of soldiers in the blue uniform 
of the United States was not a littfe galling to the 
sectional pride and native passion of Mrs. Samuels, 
who did not hesitate at any time to abuse the cause 
which they represented. In this pleasant pastime 
she was always emphatic and unamiable in expres- 
sion. 

It was early in 1862 that Frank James bid adieu 
to all peaceful pursuits, and rode away in the dim 
twilight hour to seek the camp of the Guerrilla Chief- 
tain. He had made a start toward becoming an 
outlaw. It was in the spring-time. Frank was away 
with Quantrell's reckless band, and Jesse, who had 
attained the age of sixteen years, was ploughing in 
a field on the Samuels estate, near Kearney, when 
on a bright day a band of Federal militia approached 
the homestead. They first encountered Dr. Sam- 
uels, and him they laid violent hands upon, bore him 
away to a convenient tree, adjusted a rope about his 
neck and hanged him to a projecting branch until 
life was almost extinct, and so they left him for oth- 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 1'J 

ers to relieve. Not content with this exhibition of 
prowess, the vahant warriors proceeded to the field 
where Jesse followed his plough, and laid hold upon 
him, and placed a rope around his neck and told him 
his hour had come, and while they tormented him in 
this manner, some of them pricked his body with 
their bayonet-points or their sabres. The reason as- 
signed by the militiamen for this exhibition of vio- 
lence, was that Jesse James was accustomed to ride 
fast and far when the shades of night fell upon the 
earth, to convey intelligence to the Guerrilla Chief- 
tain of the movements of the militia. When they 
had chastised him, and warned him that if he rode 
any more to carry the news they would kill him, 
they let him go his way. 

But Jesse James was not to be intimidated. He 
rode again and again to the hidden camp. His bad 
passions were aroused. The boy had become a sav- 
age. That same week the militia made a descent upon 
the farm-house of Dr. Samuels, and finding Mrs. Sam- 
uels and her daughter, Miss Susie James, at home, 
they were placed under arrest and conveyed to the 
jail at St. Joseph, at that time a place reeking in 
filth, where they were detained for a number of 
weeks, all the while subjected to the coarse j'ests and 
cruel jeers of the unfeeling guards. This last act 
on the part of the Federal militia determined the fu- 
ture course of Jesse James. While his mother and 
sister languished in jail, Jesse mounted a horse, fleet 
of foot, and rode away, nor did he stop until he 



28 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

drew rein in Quantrell's camp. At this time he was 
described as not yet sixteen years of age, with a 
smooth, handsome face, with deep blue eyes, and a 

complexion as soft, as delicate and fair as a school 
girl's. But even then the bright blue eyes were never 
at rest, ancl about the mouth were the lines of strong 
determination, and a certain expression of counte- 
nance that indicated cool courage. He, perhaps, had 
the susceptibility of being merciful, but /lis mercy was 
a mere whim — a passing fancy and not a quality. 

Frank and Jesse had both entered upon their ca- 
reer — a course in life destined to blight all that was 
noble, or susceptible of becoming noble and grand 
in character. The old life, with all its promise, and 
all its dreams and hopes, was past. Henceforth a 
new life, fraught with danger and sufferings, and 
crimes which should make their very names a terror, 
was to animate them. The hard lines were drawn, 
and the men who might have served well the inter- 
ests of a peaceful society, had more favorable cir- 
cumstances surrounded them, cast loose all the re- 
straints of civilized life, and in a day, as it were, re- 
turned to that condition of savage existence from 
which the race had been raised by ages of struggle. 
They were not long in proving to their comrades 
that they were worthy to be numbered among their 
desperate ranks. Their efficiency as daring and 
dangerous partisans was soon made manifest. 



CHAPTER IV. 

BLOODY WAR. 

" The presence of soldiers is a wicked thing, 
Bounded in time and circumscribed in space." 

The presence of armed men wearing the blue uni- 
form of the Federal army in the counties of Platte, 
Clinton and Clay, Missouri, was commingled gall 
and worm-wood to the souls of that portion of the 
population which was devoted to the Southern 
cause. These constituted probably more than two- 
thirds of the inhabitants. The passions of the peo- 
ple on both sides were at a white heat. Neighbor 
was contending with neighbor, and friends were ready 
to strike down the friends who opposed, and old asso- 
ciates divided by politics, had become the bitterest 
of foes. Anarchy prevailed. Society was rent into 
fragments and the law of hate was triumphant. 

Frank and Jesse James were with Quantrell's 
band, and were selected to go on an expedition 
with a scout under Captain Scott, to the north side 
of the Missouri river. The town of Richfield was 
garrisoned by a company of some thirty men under 
command of a Captain Sessions, of the Federal 
State militia. Scott's command consisted of only 
twelve. Yet with this feeble force he determined to 

attack Richfield. Frank James was one of the men 

29 



30 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

appointed to lead the attacking party. A desperate 
fight ensued. Captain Sessions and Lieut. Graffen- 
stien, of the Federal garrison, were killed at the first 
fire. The Guerrillas gained a complete triumph. 
Ten of the militiamen were killed, while Scott did 
not lose a man. The survivors of the fray surren- 
dered to the partisan, Captain Scott, and he paroled 
them. 

After the morning fight, Scott moved about twenty 
miles that day to the house of one Pat McGinnis, in 
Clay county. It was made the duty of Frank James 
to scout through the country that night, and he rode 
away from the camp of the partisan in the black night 
— rode straightway to the home of his mother. That 
lady was at home. She had been collecting informa- 
tion for the use of the Guerrillas, and was pleased to 
see her son. To him she opened her budget of in- 
telligence. The movement of Scott on Richfield had 
startled the Federal militia. The small bands were 
rapidly concentrating, and were strengthening their 
position every day. Plattsburg, the county seat of 
Clinton, had been stripped of its garrison, which had 
been sent out to hunt for the bold raiders, and was at 
that very time defenseless. Such was the character 
of the information gathered by Mrs. Samuels, and im- 
parted to her son, who, in company with a comrade, 
Mr. Fletcher Taylor, rode hastily back to Scott's 
camp to report the character of the information 
which he had gained. 

On receiving the information, Scott resolved to 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 3 1 

make an attempt upon Plattsburg. During the suc- 
ceeding day it was ascertained that Captain Rodgers 
had left Plattsburg to make an effort to discover and 




A Moonlight Conference. 



capture Scott, taking with him most of the garrison. 
In the first watch of the second night after the affair 
at Richfield, Scott's little band silently deserted 



32 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

their camp and rode rapidly toward Plattsburg. 
Two o'clock in the morning found them within four 
miles of that place, on Smith's fork of Grand river. 
Here they halted and slept until daylight. They 
were in a deep forest, and quite secure from observa- 
tion. Until three o'clock in the evening they re- 
mained quiet, feeding their horses and resting. Then 
the scouts brought intelligence concerning the situa- 
tion at the town, and the Guerrillas, mounting, set out 
to capture it. There were a few men left as a guard 
at the Court-house, under the command of a Lieu- 
tenant. The officer had been out in town when the 
Guerrillas charged into the public square. Before he 
could rejoin his men he was cut off by Frank James, 
to whom he was compelled to yield himself a pris- 
oner. James at once conducted his captive into the 
presence of Captain Scott. The m.ilitia in the 
Court-house, though taken by surprise, were not dis- 
posed to yield without a struggle. At the time the 
Lieutenant was brought before Scott, they were 
pouring a severe fire among the Guerrillas, and the 
issue was in doubt. Pointing to his prisoner, Frank 
said, "Captain, shoot that man, unless he delivers 
up the Court-house." "That I will!" responded 
Scott, with a terrible oath as he drew his pistol. The 
officer besought his men to yield, which under the 
circumstances they consented to do. 

Two hundred muskets were captured and destroy- 
ed, and ;^ 1 2,000 in "Union Defence Warrants," of 
the State of Missouri, were seized and appropriated. 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 33 

The spoils of victory were divided amon^ the band. 
Frank's share was ;^i,ooo. It was his first taste of 
gain through violent appropriation — an initiative les- 
son, so to speak. He has become a proficient since 
that time. The raiders, whose camps were usually to 
be found in forests, far away from the generally travel- 
ed highways, concluded to sup like civilized men that 
night, hence they ordered supper at the hotel, and 
had for their guest the late Federal commander of 
the post. 

Frank James is a silent man, having little to say, 
and that little is brought out in sharp, short sen- 
tences. He is not so tall as Jesse, nor so robust in 
form. He never laughs, and was never known to 
jest with his comrades. In the early days of the war 
he was beardless, and the outlines of his features 
were visible to all. His face is long, with a broad, 
square forehead, and a strong under jaw and heavy 
chin. His eyes are dark gray and are restless, and 
always have a wicked expression about them. In 
later years Frank James wears a full beard, and on 
that account is not so readily recognizable by those 
who knew him in the old days. 

Jesse James, as a youth, had a round jovial face, 
and rather a pleasant expression of countenance. 
He was then the reverse of taciturn ; had a merry 
laugh, and was "a fellow of infinite jest" among his 
comrades. In all his subsequent career he has been 
the Aaron to Frank. Jesse always does the talking 
yet| wh^n they have occasion tQ communicate with 



34 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OP 

strangers. In later years Jesse, too, has become re- 
served, not so taciturn as his brother, but still more 
silent than the average of men. Neither one of the 
brothers is given to boisterous merriment novv-a- 
days, since life's shadows have fallen so darkly 
around them. 



CHAPTER V. 

AT THE SACK OF LAWRENCE, KANSAS. 

"Wherefore this tangle of perplexities, 
The trouble or the joys ? the weary maze 

Of narrow fears and hopes, that may not cease, 
A chill falls on us from the skiey ways, 

Black with the night-tide where is none to hear 
The ancient cry, the wherefore of our days." 

The years come and go, and they give birth to 
bright and tender dreams, as well as to passions dark 
as Azrael's wing, and fierce as flames of Tophet. 
Yes, the years give joy and peace to some, and hope 
buds, as in the spring days the lilacs bloom. Yet 
time digs deep graves in which to bury our fondest 
hopes, and obliterates in indistinguishable night 
every earthly joy. It is better so. If we could draw 
aside the screen which hides from our ken the things 
of the future, who of us would enjoy the prospect ? 

There was a time, perhaps, when Frank and Jesse 
James would shudder at the thought that they should 
become not only soldier-slayers of men, but robbers 
and murderers as well. And yet they were drifting 
down a rapid tide toward the great black gulf of 
evil. A few months calls the leaves from their 
buds, and dresses the forest in green — a few months 
more and the leaves and flowers wither before the 
North wind's breath and the beautiful flowers and 

35 



36 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

the gay leaves become loathesome in the dust of 
decay. 

And so too, we imagine, are the changes of mind 
and the transformation of character. The James 
boys were in a school where the gentle law of mercy 
was never imparted ; in a school where the instruc- 
tors were incarnations of bitterness and hate, and 
every pupil devoted to the lessons they gave out. 
So the months rolled away and it was not long be- 
fore they could listen unmoved to the last sigh of 
the dying victim, and send a foe before the aim of 
their unerring bullets, to challenge the sentinels on 
the farther shore of the river of death without a 
thought or tremor of remorse. They were fit now 
to take part in the most sanguinary warfare ever waged 
in this country — the Guerrilla warfare along the bor- 
der of Missouri. 

It was therefore without any twinges of conscience 
that they heard the proposition of the revengeful 
Quantrell, to capture and sack the city of Lawrence 
and massacre its male inhabitants. They were in 
the transforming stage, the full grown desperadoes 
were just coming along the steps of time from the 
closet of the future. 

It was a night in August — the i6th — 1863, when the 
commander of the fiercest band of Guerrillas that 
ever marauded in the State of Missouri, gave the 
order, " Saddle up, men ! " in his camp on the 
Blackwater, and unfurling that ominous black ban- 
ner with the single relief of the word ''Quantrell" 




Z1 



38 Life and adventures of 

in white, the bush-warriors rode west toward the 
Kansas border, intent upon a mission which could 
neither succeed nor suffer repulse without bringing 
sorrow to many hearts. On the way three peacea- 
ble citizens beyond the Aubrey, were pressed into 
service as guides to the bloody band. They forced 
these to lead them until they had reached a part of 
the country where their knowledge extended no 
further, and when they came to a grove of timber on 
the margin of a stream, the three poor inoffensive 
men were remorsely shot, Frank James being one of 
the executioners. They had set out to kill all Kan- 
sas men. 

On the morning of the 2ist, it was as clear and 
bright a summer morning as ever gladdened the 
earth. Quantrell's band was in full view of the ill- 
fated city. There was a charge, women's faces 
blanched, and shrieks rent the air. Volley after 
volley broke the stillness of the morning. The people 
saw the sombre black flag, and knew that the Guer- 
rillas were upon them. On they came, a resistless 
tide. Men sank down without a groan. The very 
streets ran red in human blood. Women and chil- 
dren, coming before the fatal revolver bullets which 
streamed along the street, met their fate as they fled 
for the shelter of homes that were destined for the 
flames to feed upon. In this pandemonium of war- 
fiends, Frank and Jesse James were conspicuous ac- 
tors. Here, there, everywhere, when opportunity 
offered, men either armed or unarmed and defenseless 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 

were made victims of their skill as pistol shooters, and 
they felt no more regret than if they had been act- 
ing the part of honorable soldiers and chevaliers. 
The torch was applied, and the terrors of billowy 
flames were added to the horrors of the scene. How 
many houses they burned, and how many lives they 
destroyed that day, they themselves do not know ; 
of the first there were several, of the second there 
were many. 

They returned with Quantrell to Missouri. They 
had learned well. The lads who are claimed by 
their friends to have been gentle as cooing doves in 
the home nest had been singularly transformed into 
merciless eagles, or vindictive kites, rather. They 
had proved that human rights and human lives had 
little to call for their regard, and so the first stage of 
a notorious career had been attained by these 
brothers ere yet they had reached their majority. 



CHAPTER VI. 

A GORY RECORD. 

"Oh, the dread of by-gone days! — 

A fearful tale they tell, 
When rung the woodland echoes round 

To warlike shout and yell, 
When fiercely met the hostile bands, 

And deadly grew the strife, 
And wildly, with the clash of arms, 

Went up the shriek for life." 

The cruel strife of the border can never be forgot- 
ten. Those were tragic days, the very remembrance 
of which comes like a dream of sorrow and desola- 
tion of soul. It is well that such terrible times have 
passed away, for to those who were exposed to the 
fury of that tidal-wave of passion, which swept over 
the fair border-land, physical existence must have 
been a wheel of pain. But the mighty procession of 
the ages, sweeping by, will soon obliterate the traces 
of the storm's ravages, and only the dim legends of 
horrible deeds will remain. 

In that dreadful ebullition of human hatreds, 
Frank and Jesse James played no laggard's part. 
As boys, they accepted service under Quantrell, and 
became renowned for caution and daring even in tlie 
days of their youth. Members of a partisan organ- 
ization, famed even in the early days of the strife 
40 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 4t 

for daring deeds and extraordinary activity; a band, 
every man of which was a desperado of great cur 
ning and prowess, these two callow-youths, taken 
from a country farm, speedily rose to the eminence 
of leading spirits among the most daring of men. 
Both sides in the border counties of Missouri and 
Kansas prosecuted war with a vindictive fury unpar- 
alleled in modern history. The scene of the opera- 
tions of the Guerrillas was at first confined to the 
Hmits of Clay, Platte, Jackson, Bates, Henry, John- 
son, and Lafayette counties, in Missouri, and along 
the Kansas border. 

These men rode far and fast in the night time, and 
fought their foes at early dawn. Living in out-of- 
the-way neighborhoods were their friends. When 
pressed hard they disbanded and scattered, and ren- 
dered all pursuit futile. 

Frank and Jesse James early discovered those 
traits of character which have rendered them famous 
as the greatest outlaws and free-booters of modern 
times. They became scouts and spies for Quantrell 
at the beginning of their career, and showed them- 
selves possessors of remarkable capacity for such 
service. They were cool and brave, fertile in resour- 
ces, and marvelous in cunning. 

After Lawrence came the disbandment, and with 
the disbandment came that strange training in indi- 
vidual development and personal reliance which 
have made the Boys objects of fear to the people of 
many regions, and enabled them to plunder at will, 



42 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

baffle pursuit, and defy the civil authorities of great 
States. 

They had hiding places with friends in Clay, 
Platte, Jackson, Johnson, Cass and Lafayette coun- 
ties, and when the Guerrilla band to which they be- 
longed scattered in order to evade pursuers, the Boys 
retired to the dwellings of their friends and rested in 
peace till the time of re-organizing, when an enemy 
was to be punished. 

Perhaps no two individuals ever lived on this con- 
tinent who have taken so many lives, as the James 
Boys. Emerging from the seclusion which they 
could always find in the Hudspeth neighborhood, in 
the eastern part of Jackson county, in July, 1863, with 
Captain George Todd, a redoubtable Guerrilla chief- 
tain, with whose command Frank and Jesse often 
fought, they struck the road leading from Pleasant 
Hill to Blue Springs. Major Ransom, a Federal 
officer with a cavalry force, was traveling that road 
at the time. A collision took place. The fighting 
was savage. The volleys of revolver bullets fired by 
the Guerrillas proved awfully destructive to their op- 
ponents. Jesse and Frank James have been credited 
with a tremendous destruction of hfe — Jesse killing 
seven, and, Frank eight men in the Federal ranks 
during that encounter. 

One night Frank James and five or six of his com- 
rades were detailed to capture and kill the militia 
men who were accustomed to frequent a bagnio, four 
miles east of Wellington, in Lafayette county. 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 43 

Frank James preceded the little band, and, creeping 
up under the window, he saw the company inside. 
There were eleven men in dalliance with the women. 
James returned to his comrades, reported the result 
of his observations, and the Guerrillas rode to the 
house. A peremptory summons brought the militia- 
men to the yard. The Guerrillas poured a volley of 
bullets among them. The ten men fell, pierced by 
the deadly missiles. But where was the eleventh 
man ? There had been that number in the house 
when James saw the company, and the man could 
not have left the place. A search was instituted. 
The man could not be found. But there was one 
woman more in the party than had been seen before. 
A candle was procured and a search instituted 
among them. They all appeared to be women. 
Frank James discovered the man. He was a youth, 
fair skinned and blue eyed, with long brown hair. 
His features were handsome, and in the garments of 
a woman he appeared not unlike a fresh country 
girl. Of course he expected to die there. His ten 
companions presented the spectacle of a ghastly 
wreck of humanity in the yard as they lay there 
cold in death. But he plead for his life. He was so 
young to die. ** Here, Frank, take him," said the 
leader. ** You discovered him ; he is yours to deal 
with." It was a sentence of death, they said. The 
boy thought so, and hope vanished. " Come," said 
Frank, " come along and be shot." The poor youth 
trembled in every nerve. He could scarcely walk. 



44 LIFE AND ADVENTURES Of 

His supposed executioner had to assist him down 
the steps and out through the yard. They passed 
the ghastly heap of corpses, lying there in the dim 
starlight. They went away, into the darkness under 
the sombre trees, down the road. Poor boy, he 
thought of his mother. Under the wide-spreading 
branches of an ancient oak they halted. " Here ! 
we are far enough," said Frank James. The poor 
youth almost fell to the earth from excess of emo- 
tion. To die, and so young, and in such a way, too ! 
** Oh, spare me for the sake of my mother !" he 
wailed. '* You are free to go ! I give you your life. 
You are outside of the pickets, outside of danger. 
Go, and be quick about it!" And at that moment 
Frank James fired a pistol shot upward through the 
branches of the oak, and the fair haired boy soldier 
disappeared in the darkness — spared for the sake of 
his mother by the youthful desperado. Frank James 
returned to his comrades. They had heard the shot 
and naturally concluded that it meant one more life 
ended. Frank assumed a grave expression. " Quick 
work," remarked a comrade. ** Yes," returned the 
Guerrilla, ** babies and boys are not hard to kill." 
He never spoke of that better deed he performed 
out there, with only the stars and God as witnesses. 
And the border strife went on. Frank and Jesse 
rode with Quantrell, sometimes with Todd and 
Poole, then again they fought at unexpected times 
by the side of John Jarrette, and Bill Anderson, and 
Arch Clements. One week they would be charging 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 



45 



Blunt's Body Guard in Southeastern Kansas; the 
next they would ambush a moving column of Feder- 




A Deed of Mercy. 

al militia in Lafayette, or Jackson county, Missouri. 
Jt was fighting — cruel, savage fighting, all the while,. 



46 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

In the bottom lands along the Blue, or among the 
Sni hills, when hotly pursued, they would find hiding 
places, from whence they emerged only to deal out 
destruction and death. Down to Texas, marching 
with the close of autumn, like migratory birds, they 
returned to their old haunts with the bright spring 
days. Deceiving and cutting to pieces Lieut. Nash's 
small command in the road west of Warrensburg, on 
a Monday, we hear of their successfully ambushing a 
column of Union militia on the banks of the Little 
Blue on the succeeding Wednesday, and a few days 
afterwards we hear of Frank and Jesse playing " the 
trumps " of revolver bullets among a squad of rol- 
licking soldier gamesters at Camden ; then again 
they are heard of with Todd, riding down 
the road from Independence toward Harrison- 
ville, where, seven miles from the former place, 
they encounter Captain Wagner, of the Second 
Colorado Cavalry, and engage in a terrible hand- 
to-hand conflict in which Jesse James takes the 
life of the Captain, and with his deadly aim 
sends seven of Wagner's men to the bourne of the 
dead. On the same occasion Frank, riding furiously 
among the Federal cavalrymen, deals death to eight 
of them. So the spring and summer of 1864 was 
passing with these men engaged in deeds of blood. 
It was in the last days of July of 1864, that Arch 
Clements and Jesse James were riding along a coun- 
try road one evening, when they discovered four 
militiamen in an orchard gathering apples. Two of 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 4/ 

the men were in one tree and two in another. With- 
out ceremony the Guerrillas shot them as they would 
have shot squirrels from a forest tree, and jested of 
the deed as they might have jested over the fall of 
wild beasts. 

It was about this time that Frank James had a 
thrilling adventure. He had been ordered out on a 
scout to ascertain the movements of the Federals in 
Jackson and Cass counties. It was a period of deep 
anxiety to the Guerrilla leaders, as it appeared that 
special efforts were being made by the Federal mili- 
tia, and several companies of the Second Colorado 
Cavalry, to capture all the irregular Confederates 
found in the State of Missouri. Frank had reached 
the Independence and Harrisonville road at a point 
about midway between the two towns. As he passed 
through the country he ascertained that a force of 
infantry and cavalry were at a house some miles 
away from the road. How many there were in this 
detachment he could not learn. But he resolved to 
investigate. Taking a neighborhood path, not much 
traveled, he rode toward the Federal encampment. 
On the roadside was a lonely cabin, now uninhab- 
ited, as he believed. He examined the indications, 
and rode on. At the cabin the road made a short 
turn. When Frank turned around the corner of the 
old cabin, two militiamen presented their muskets 
and commanded him to halt. In an instant the ready 
pistol was snatched from its place by the Guerrilla, 
and even before the militiaman could fire, the bullet 




<s 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 49 

from Frank's pistol had penetrated his brain, and he 
fell in the agonies of death to the earth. At the 
very instant of firing, Frank put spurs to his horse 
and galloped away, turning and firing at the remain- 
ing guard as he did so, and wounding him unto death 
just as he was in the act of firing at the daring rider. 
The bullet from the militiaman's gun whistled within 
an inch of Frank James' ear as it sped on its harm- 
less mission. The picket post where the firing took 
place was within a few hundred yards of a camp 
where a hundred militiamen, and half that number 
of cavalrymen, who rode good horses, were taking 
their dinners. Frank, surmising that the two soldiers 
with whom he had the combat were on guard duty 
close to camp, and that an alarm and pursuit would 
follow, rode with all speed toward the Guerrilla 
camp. He was pursued, as he expected, but he 
easily eluded the Coloradoans. 

In August — it was the I2th day of that month, 
1864, that Jesse and Frank participated with their 
comrades, Todd, Anderson and others, in a des- 
perate conflict in Ray county, Missouri. Again the 
deadly revolvers, in the hands of the boys, accom- 
plished fatal results. Between the two, seven fellow- 
beings were sent to the silent realms of death. 

Two days afterward they were at the Flat Rock 
Ford, on Grand river, and a desperate struggle with 
some Federal miHtia and volunteers ensued. During 
that fight Jesse was struck by a musket ball which 
tore through his breast, cut into and through his left 

3 



50 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

lung, and caused him to fall. His comrades carried 
him away. At length he was transported to the 
house of Captain John A. M. Rudd. The wound 
was a dangerous one, and all expected it would prove 
fatal. Jesse believed so himself, and took from his 
finger a ring which he charged his friends to carry to 
his sister. Miss Susie James, and give her also his 
dying message, which was, " I have no regret. I've 
done what I thought was right. I die contented." 
This event occurred August i6th, 1874. By the 7th 
of September he had so far recovered as to be able 
to ride and fight again. 

On the I2th of September Jesse and Frank rode 
away with Lieutenant George Shepherd, from the 
Guerrilla rendezvous at Judge Gray's, near Bone 
Hill, Jackson county, for a raid into Clay county. 
At this time he visited his mother. On the i6th of 
September Jesse James killed three militiamen in an 
encounter near Keytesville, Chariton county, Mis- 
souri. He was now so far recovered as to perform 
the services of a scout. 

On the 17th he rode twenty-nine miles in the 
night time, through a country swarming with militia, 
to advise Todd concerning the movements of the 
Federal forces. 

On the 20th of September, 1864, occurred the 
battle of Fayette, Missouri. The whole of Quan- 
trell's band was concentrated for the purpose of 
making this attack. All the chieftains were present, 
Quantrell and Anderson, Poole and Clements. Dur- 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 5 1 

ing the assault on the stockade, Lee McMurtry was 
desperately wounded close up to the enemy's posi- 
tion. Jesse and McMurtry were comrades, and he 
would not allow his friend to fall into the hands of 
the Federals if he could help it. He rushed up to 
where the wounded man lay, and though exposed to 
a terrible fire, he carried away his wounded friend 
without receiving any injury. The Guerrillas were 
driven from Fayette. 

At this time the various bands seemed to accept the 
leadership of Bill Anderson, who was then gathering 
forces for the Centralia expedition. Quantrell sep- 
arated from him, and returned to a secure place of 
repose in Howard county. 

Todd and Poole and the James boys, Pringle, the 
scalper, the two Hills and Clements, indeed, all of 
the most desperate of the Guerrilla gang followed 
the black banner of the most savage Guerrilla that 
ever trod the soil of Missouri. 

The 27th of September, 1864, must ever be a me- 
morable day in the annals of the civil war in Mis- 
souri. On that day, with a flag black as the raven's 
wing, and ominous of the coming night of death. 
Bill Anderson rode to Centralia, a village in the 
northeastern part of Boone county. Mo., on the Hne 
of the St. Louis, Kansas City and Northern Railroad. 
He was not long idle. A train of cars drew up to 
the depot. There were soldiers and citizens on that 
train. Very few of the former, however, were 
^rmed. Only a few guns, at any rate, were fired. The 



52 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

train and its passengers were completely at the mercy 
of the Guerrillas. The Federal soldiers and citizen 
passengers were formed in a line. Then a separation 
of citizens and soldiers took place. Twenty-eight 
soldiers and four citizens who wore blue blouses 
were selected, marched out and shot with an atro- 
cious haste that would make even the cruel Kurds 
shudder. In this bloody tragedy, Frank and Jesse 
James were prominent actors. 

Scarcely had this butchery been consummated, 
when Major Johnson, in command of about loolowa 
cavalrymen, came upon the scene. The force of the 
Guerrillas under command of Todd numbered more 
than two hundred men, and as both were deter- 
mined, a desperate fight ensued. But the impetuous 
charge of the Guerrillas, led by George Todd, broke 
the lines of the lowans, and a panic ensued among 
them. Major Johnson made gallant effort to rally his 
men. It was in vain. The furious riders dashed among 
them and shot them down like so many panic- 
stricken sheep. Jesse James, mounted on a superb 
horse, rode directly at Major Johnson. The issue 
was not doubtful. The deadly aim of the Guerrilla 
soon laid him stark and still on the prairie. It was 
all over with him, and also for the men he com- 
manded that morning. Appeals for mercy were of 
no avail. The vanquished Federals were massacred. 
Frank James was equally active with his brother. He 
is credited with having taken the lives of eight men 
that day. It was a day of horror, and the partisan 
rangers revelled in the carnage. 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 53 

After Centralla came hard knocks. In one of the 
fights immediately succeeding the Centralia holo- 
caust, Dick Kinney, a noted Guerrilla, received his 
death wound. He was Frank James' comrade, 
and he fell heir to the pistol which Kinney had 
worn. On the handle of this weapon were fifty 
notches, each notch signifying one. He had killed 
fifty men. Frank James probably has the pistol 
yet. 

In a corner of Clay county lived an old man named 
Banes. He was a staunch Union man, and blessed 
the Guerrillas with the same kind of blessing that 
Balak desired Balaam to bestow upon Israel. Banes 
was particularly severe in his condemnation of Jesse 
and Frank James. One night the boys went to 
Bane's house under the guise of Colorado troopers. 
The old man received them gladly, and at once un- 
bosomed himself freely in regard to the Guerrillas. 
In the course of his remarks he animadverted on 
Mrs. Samuels, the mother of the boys, in bitter 
terms. He denounced her as being " the mother of 
two devils, Jesse and Frank James." The boys se- 
cured his confidence, and then a promise of immedi- 
ate assistance in hunting up the desperadoes. Banes 
got his gun and pistols and saddled his horse, 
mounted and rode out to his death, for when the trio 
had gone about half a mile away from the house, the 
pretended soldiers announced themselves as the 
James boys, and gave him no space for repentance. 
Two pistol shots rang out on the still night, a heavy 



54 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

body fell to the earth, and then the living men rode 
away, leaving a cold form of mortality out under the 
stars. 

With difficulty the Guerrillas made their way to 
their haunts on the Blackwater. Fighting was going 
on constantly. The shadow of death was gathering 
over many a bold rider of the Guerrilla band. Mov- 
ing out from their camp on the Blackwater, one day, 
the Guerrillas fell into an ambuscade, and several 
received wounds. Among those thus wounded was 
Jesse James, who had his horse killed and received a 
shot through the leg. 

Todd was sent out to skirmish with the advance 
guard of the Federal army then following the retir- 
ing army of General Price. At every creek there 
was a battle, and at every encounter there was blood- 
shed. In one of these fights, when the leaves were 
all falling on the brown earth, George Todd was 
killed. In the night time his followers came to pay 
the last tribute of respect to his remains. There 
were not many who gathered there in the gloom of 
the midnight to gaze for the last time on the face of 
the courageous Guerrilla, but among them were Jesse 
and Frank James, and they pointed their pistols 
toward the cloud-veiled, teary sky, and swore to 
avenge his death. 

But the old band was broken up. JLate in October, 
1864, Jesse and Frank parted, the former with Shep- 
herd went to Texas, the latter with QuantrcU to 
Kentucky. 



Frank and jesse jarIes. 55 

It proved to be the final dissolution of Quantrell's 
once formidable force of partisans. George Todd, 
the Paladine of the command, the leader who was 
persistent and daring, slept quietly after the fierce 
turmoil of life's battlefield had ended. John Poole, 
another hard rider, desperate fighter and dauntless 
leader, mouldered in a gory grave. John Jarratte 
and Cole Younger had sometime before separated 
from the band, and were operating in the far South 
where the magnolias grow and the moss-bearded 
live-oaks stand sentinels in the fever-haunted swamps. 
Fernando Scott was dead. Bill Anderson had fallen 
in a terrible combat while endeavoring to effect a 
crossing of the Missouri river in Howard county. 
As he had lived for some years, grimly fighting, so in 
the last extremity when the odds were all against 
him and unseen messengers of death burdened the 
air with their low-hummed dirges, his life went out 
while he still fought in the very shades of despair. 
Kinney was dead, and many more had surrendered 
life in the hot simoon of battle. 

And what a band it had been, which was now 
broken ! Its deeds must ever remain a part of the 
history of Missouri, and the chapter wherein the 
record is made will always be read with a shudder, 
and in years to come men will remember the mourn- 
ful story of devastation and death with feelings of 
painful regret that human beings could so revel in 
the miseries and misfortunes of whole communities. 

To those who can calmly sit and look down the 



$6 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OP 

vista of the dead years and recall without prejudice 
the history of men who were authors of def*ds so 
notable — actions which, performed under other cir- 
cumstances, would have made heroes of deathless 
fame, there must come a feeling of regret that such 
men should have been the victims of a baleful des- 
tiny. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ADVENTURES IN SEPARATE FIELDS. 

The days of Guerrilla warfare were drawing to a 
close. The retreat of Price and Shelby from Mis- 
souri left the Federals free to operate against the 
Guerrillas. The old bands were decimated. Death 
had been busy in their ranks ; and for the remnants 
of a once formidable organization, no Confederate 
army could extend over them sheltering arms. The 
drama was about completed ; the curtain was soon to 
drop. 

Jesse James went with Lieutenant George Shep- 
herd to Texas in the autumn of 1864. During the 
long march through the Indian Territory, they met 
with many stirring adventures. On the 22d day of 
November, Shepherd's band encountered the band 
of Union militia, commanded by Captain Emmett 
Goss, which had acquired an unenviable name on ac- 
count of the excesses which they had committed. 
Goss was coming up from a marauding trip into Ar- 
kansas, and had reached Cabin Creek, in the Chero- 
kee Nation. Goss was "a fighting man," and a 
fierce conflict ensued. Jesse James singled out the 
commander and rode full at him, firing his pistol and 
receiving the return fire of the other. The contest 
was short ; the steady aim of the Guerrilla secured 



5S LIFE ANt) ADVENTURES OP 

him a triumph. Goss fell from his horse with one 
bullet-hole through his head and another through 
his heart. On this occasion there was one other to 
realize the skill of Jesse James with the pistol, if in- 
deed he realized anything after his ineffectual plea 
for life. The Rev. U. P. Gardiner, chaplain of the 
Thirteenth Kansas, rode with Captain Goss' band up 
from toward the South. Jesse James pursued him, 
and came up with him. The chaplain told his pur- 
suer who he was, and plead for life. The answer he 
received to this petition was a bullet through the 
brain. He fell from his horse dead. 

Two days afterward, Jesse and a companion were 
riding over the prairie, near the bank of a stream. 
For some cause the comrade of Jesse left him for a 
time alone. Not far away was a skirt of heavy tim- 
ber. On a sudden, a wild shout burst from the 
wood, and a party of Pin Indians — that is, Chero- 
kees, who were friendly to the Union, came skurry- 
ing across the prairie, directly toward the Guerrilla. 
His danger was imminent, for the Cherokees were 
well armed with long range guns, which they knew 
well how to use. Safety lay in retreat, and Jesse 
turned to flee. He was on the open prairie, and 
could not get to the timber. There was a high and 
steep bank before him, and the Indians were follow- 
ing close behind. He determined to leap his horse 
down the precipice. It happened to be where the 
water was deep, and a slight projection and growth 
of brush broke the fall. The leap was successfully 




59 



6o 



LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 



made, and neither horse nor rider was badly injured. 
Jesse, following down the creek, made his escape, 
and soon regained Lieutenant Shepherd's camp. 

During the winter of 1864-5 Jesse James remained 
in Texas, leading quite an inactive life. With the 




A Horrible Deed. 



spring, however, that part of the Missouri Guerrillas 
which went with Shepherd, began to think of Mis- 
souri again. In April they began the return march. 
The road was beset with dangers. The Pin Indians 
in the Cherokee country were extremely hostile, and 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 6l 

left no opportunity to strike at them unimproved. 
By the time the May flowers bloomed, Jesse James 
had reached Benton county, Missouri. In that 
county hved a Union militiaman named Harkness, 
who had made himself exceedingly obnoxious to 
people of Confederate sympathies. This man was 
captured by the returning Guerrillas, and Jesse 
James and two comrades held him in a vice-like em- 
brace, while another Guerrilla, Arch. Clements, cut 
his throat from ear to ear. 

At Kingsville, Johnson county. Mo., lived an old 
man named Duncan, who had belonged to the militia, 
and was very cordially disliked on account of his 
bad disposition toward the Southern people. Jesse 
James sought him, found him, and slew him. Dun- 
can was a man of 55 years of age. 

The Guerrilla career of Jesse James drew to a 
close. In May, 1865, all the Confederate bands in 
the State were coming into the Federal posts and 
surrendering. A considerable number of those who 
had come up from Texas with Arch. Clements de- 
sired to surrender, but several refused to do so. 
Among these were Jesse James. But the formality 
of a surrender of the others led them all to Lexing- 
ton, Mo., under a flag of truce. There were eight 
unsurrendered Guerrillas to bid a last adieu to their 
old comrades. This little band had proceeded into 
Johnson county, when suddenly they were met by a 
band of Federal troops returning from a scouting 
expedition. These fired upon the Guerrillas^ and a 



62 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

sanguinary struggle ensued. Jesse James* horse 
was killed ; he was wounded in the leg and retired 
into the woods pursued by the Federals. He fought 
with desperation, but received, at last, a shot through 
the lungs. The wound was a terrible one, but he es- 
caped, and dragged himself to a hiding place near 
the banks of a small stream. Here, for two days 
and nights, alone, consumed by a raging fever, the 
wounded Guerrilla lay. Finally he crawled to a 
field where a man was ploughing. This man proved 
to be a friend, and took James in, cared for him, and 
finally sent him to his friends. The soldier who shot 
Jesse James that day was John E. Jones, Company 
E., Second Wisconsin regiment of cavalry. The 
Guerrilla and his antagonist afterward became ac- 
quainted, and were warm personal friends. Jesse 
James joined his mother in Nebraska, and returned 
with her to Clay county, Missouri. 



Quantrell gathered up a small band of his old 
comrades in the Guerrilla warfare, at Wigginton's 
place, five miles west of the town of Waverly, La- 
fayette county. Among those who obeyed the sum- 
mons to this rendezvous was Frank James. The 
Confederate armies had retreated from Missouri. 
There was no longer a field in that State for the ex- 
ercise of his peculiar talents. He resolved to go 
East, to Maryland, and there open up a Guerrilla 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 63 

warfare. It was on the fourth day of December 
when Quantrell and Frank James and about thirty 
others of their old followers and comrades left Wig- 
ginton's for Kentucky. On the first day of January, 
1865, the dreaded Quantrell's band effected the 
passage of the Mississippi river at Charlie Morris' 
" Pacific Place," sixteen miles above Memphis. 
Morris rendered Quantrell valuable service, although 
at that time he was a frequent visitor to Memphis, 
and on excellent terms with the Federal authorities 
at that place. After leaving the river they marched 
through Big Creek, Portersville, Covington, Taber- 
nacle, Brownsville, Bell's, Gadsden, Humboldt, Mi- 
lan, McKenzie, and on to Paris. Here they had 
their first difficulty, and were compelled to mount in 
hot haste and ride away. From Paris the Guerrillas 
proceeded to Birmingham, and crossed the Tennes- 
see river. Their route then lay through Canton, 
Cadiz, and to Hopkinsville. Near this place they 
came to a house where there were twelve cavalry- 
men. Nine of them fled, leaving their horses. The 
three men who remained fought the whole of Quan- 
trell's band for many hours, until preparations were 
made to burn the house, and, indeed, until the fire 
was kindled. They then came out and surrendered. 
Quantrell, of course, appropriated the twelve fresh 
horses which were in the stable. 

There was one Captain Frank Barnette, who com- 
manded a company of Kentucky miUtia stationed at 
Hartford, Ohio county. Quantrell at that time was 



64 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

playing the role of a Federal captain. As such, he in- 
duced Barnette to go with him on a hunt for Confed- 
erate Guerrillas. Barnette carried with this expedi- 
tion about thirty of his men. Quantrell resolved to 
assassinate them all, and a way was found to do so 
during the day. Frank James was made the execu- 
tioner of Captain Barnette, and as he rode by him 
when they entered a stream of water at a ford, as 
the sun went down behind the western hills, Frank 
James fired the fatal shot, and Barnette fell dead 
from his horse, dying the clear waters of the brook 
red with his blood. 

The career of the Guerrillas was drawing to a 
close in Kentucky as well as in Missouri. Quan- 
trell, and Mundy, and Marion were constantly hunted 
by dashing cavalry officers. 

The disguise thrown off, the Federal officers knew 
that work must be done in order to stop the Guerril- 
las, and they were not slow in engaging in the un- 
dertaking. Major Bridgewater and Captain Terrell 
were untiring in their pursuit of Mundy, Marion and 
Quantrell. Frank James visited an uncle, and was 
not with Quantrell when that chieftain fought his 
last fight at Wakefield's house, near the little post 
village of Smiley, Kentucky. That day Quantrell's 
band was nearly annihilated. Subsequently, Henry 
Porter gathered up the survivors of the once formi- 
dable Guerrilla band, and surrendered with them at 
Samuel's depot, Nelson county, Kentucky, on the 
25th of July, 1S65. Among those who surrendered 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 6$ 

was Frank James. After the surrender, Frank re- 
mained in Kentucky because of a deed which he had 
performed in Missouri about a year before. There 
lived in the northeast corner of Clay county a man 
named Alvas Dailey. He had made himself very 
obnoxious to the James Boys, and Frank resolved to 
rid the world of his presence. One night he went to 
Alvas Dailey's place, and the next morning he was 
found dead with two bullet holes through his head. 
Frank James had assassinated him. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE BRANDENBURG, KY., TRAGEDY. 

Frank James went down to Wakefield's house, 
where the noted Guerrilla chieftain, Quantrell, lay 
wounded unto death. Had the terrible scenes of 
the hard, cruel Guerrilla warfare through which he 
had passed, obliterated from the breast of Frank 
James every tender emotion? It appeared not, when 
he bent over the white face of the wounded chief 
with its traces of suffering and anguish. He shed 
tears like rain. He loved his leader, and did not 
hesitate to manifest that regard. Knowing that the 
hand of death was upon him, Quantrell advised his 
disheartened followers to accept Henry Porter's 
leadership and surrender themselves to the Federal 
authorities. It might have been because their dying 
commander desired it, that such men as Frank 
James and his companions so readily consented to 
lay down the weapons of war. At any rate, the 
formal submission of the Guerrillas was made. 

In Missouri, the terrible warfare which had been 
waged had left scars wide and deep and bloody, and 
they were yet recent when the banners of the con- 
tending armies were furled. At any rate, it so ap- 
peared to Frank James, and he did not return at 
once to the State of his nativity. The part he had 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 6/ 

played had been a conspicuous one, and, on account 
of Centralia, he was on the list of the proscribed, 
and when the war ended, so far as actual hostilities 
were concerned, it had not ended, so far as Frank 
James was interested, because he was not restored 
to the peaceful pursuits which he had abandoned 
when first the war cry arose in the land. He still 
lingered in Kentucky. 

The conduct of Frank James for some time after 
the surrender indicated a desire on his part to be- 
come once more a quiet, peaceable citizen. He was 
extremely circumspect in behavior, and demeaned 
himself in a most unobtrusive way. Such was the 
promise of the new life after the years of bitter 
strife in the 'late Guerrilla. But he was not proof 
against the assaults of passion. One day the old 
flame burst out anew with consuming fury. Frank 
had started away from the State and stopped at the 
town of Brandenburg. It was several months after 
the remnants of the desperate band which Quantrell 
led into Kentucky had surrendered to the Federal 
authorities. But the country was still in an unset- 
tled condition. Bad men who had found occupation 
in hovering about the verge of battle and plundering 
the ghastly victims of war ere the last feeble breath 
had departed from their pale lips, were now idle and 
had become wandering thugs in the highways of the 
land. Horse thieves and bestial monsters were to 
be found prowling about in nearly every community, 
and more especially in the border States. A large 



6S LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

number of people, and those, too, who had served in 
the Confederate, as well as those who had been sol- 
diers in the Union armies, looked upon the men who 
had been with Quantrell, and Mundy, Magruder and 
Marion, Anderson, Farris, Hickman and other noted 
Guerrillas, with suspicion. Many persons looked 
upon them as men of evil antecedents — as thieves. 

Horse stealing was carried on at a lively rate all 
along the border. Kansas, Missouri and Kentucky 
were particularly afflicted for many months after 
the surrender by the presence of these enemies of 
the farming and stock-raising communities. 

Just about the time Frank James was passing 
through from Nelson county to Brandenburg, in 
Meade county, on the Ohio river, on his way to Mis- 
souri, a number of horses were stolen in Larue 
county. A posse went in pursuit of the thieves. 
They traced them to Brandenburg. There they 
found Frank James. There were four of them when 
they came up with James, and he was alone, sitting 
in the office of a hotel. By some means they in- 
duced him to come out, and then they told him he 
might consider himself their prisoner on a charge of 
horse stealing in Larue county. 

** By G — d ! I consider no such proposition," ex- 
claimed Frank James, as he drew a pistol and com- 
menced firing. In less time than it requires to state 
the fact, two of the posse lay extended in the em- 
brace of death, and a third was down and writhing 
in agony. But the fourth man fired a shot into 
Frank's left hip, and then ran away. 



^RANK AND JESSk JAMES. 69 

The wounded desperado was immediately sur- 
rounded by an excited throng. The ball had taken 
effect at the point of his hip, and the wound pro- 
duced was not only painful but dangerous. Yet the 
superb nerve of the man sustained him in the midst 
of an appalling crisis. A perfect storm of excite- 
ment was raging in the town. Threats loud and ter- 
rible were made, and Frank James coolly presented 
his pistols as he stood leaning against a post and 
ordered the excited crowd to stand back, and they 
obeyed him. 

Somehow it has always happened that the Jameses 
never wanted for friends wherever they have wan- 
dered. It was so on this occasion. Though the 
great majority of the people of Brandenburg thirsted 
for the blood of the slayer of two men in their 
midst, yet that grim young man, though wounded 
and suffering, had friends at that town, and in the 
midst of the excitement, these came to his assist- 
ance, and he was borne away to a secure place, 
where the populace could not tell, and nursed by 
tender hands prompted by affectionate hearts. At- 
tended by a scientific surgeon, the ghastly wound 
which had brought him to the very brink of the 
abyss of death, began to heal, and in a few weeks 
the surgeon who had attended the hidden patient 
was able to report that he would surely live and 
might ultimately recover entirely from the dreadful 
wound. 

When Frank had gained some strength, and it 



70 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

was deemed sa fe to remove him, in a quiet and se- 
cret manner he was conveyed in a close vehicle to 
the house of a staunch friend and relative in Nelson 
county, where he remained during many months, 
suffering excruciating pain on account of the hor- 
rible wound. He did not entirely recover from the 
effects of the wound for several years. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE LIBERTY BANK AFFAIR. 

Certainly no one could say that Jesse James pos- 
sessed any of the qualities which would make him 

** Like one who on a lonely road 
Doth walk in fear and dread, 
And having once turned round, walks on. 

And turns no more his head, 
Because he knows a frightful fiend 
Doth close behind him tread." 

He was constituted of a different element. If he 
ever felt the sense of dread, no one ever knew it, for 
certainly none ever saw it exhibited in his conduct. 
Yet he knew that he was hunted, knew that shrewd, 
bold men sought to bind him in fetters, to deprive 
him of liberty, or, failing in that, rob him of life. 
And yet this knowledge did not alarm him, and the 
very presence of his foes did not make him afraid, 
though they numbered " ten strong, brave men." 
Perhaps Jesse James never knew what fear meant, 
having never experienced the sensation. 

It was in 1866, on St. Valentine's day, February 
14th, that an event occurred at Liberty, Missouri, 
which created intense excitement in that community, 
and a profound sensation throughout the West. 
The event alluded to was the plundering of the 
Commercial Bank of that city of an amount of 

71 



f2 LIFE AND ADVENTURES 01^ 

money said to have been nearly $yo,ooo. The rob- 
bery was not effected in the same bold way as char- 
acterized the raids into Russellville, Gallatin, Co- 
lumbia, Corydon and other notable incidents in the 
career of the James bandits. But inasmuch as the 
bank was depleted of its funds, and that the robbery 
was unusually bold and audacious, there were many 
who secretly believed that Jesse James planned the 
robbery, if he did not lead the robbers, and that the 
treasures of the bank had been largely diverted to 
the individual possession of that noted young man. 
It will be remembered that the Liberty bank rob- 
bery occurred at a time when the James Boys were 
regarded only in the light of " desperate fighters — 
perhaps sometimes cruel in their vengeance," but 
otherwise they were believed to be honest and hon- 
orable men. Hence men were cautious in coupling 
the name of any member of the James family with 
an act of highway robbery. 

But the conviction was strong in the minds of 
many people, nevertheless, that the funds of the 
Liberty bank had gone to minister to the wants and 
satisfy the desires of Jesse James and his friends and 
confederates. No immediate action was taken 
against him, but as time passed on, and other acts 
were committed by Jesse James and his friends, 
which were not regarded as either right or proper, 
the belief that they had participated in the robbery, 
if, indeed, they were not the robbers themselves, 
became wide-spread in the community. But in jus- 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. ^3 

tice to Jesse James, it is but right to say that no evi- 
dence directly impUcating him in that affair has ever 
been secured. 

Cole Younger, when asked by a visitor to the 
Stillwater penitentiary concerning the Liberty bank 
robbery, remarked, ** I have always had my opinion 
about that affair. If the truth is ever told, many of 
the crimes charged to me and my brothers will be 
located where they belong." Former friends of 
Jesse James are firm in the belief that he was the 
instigator of the deed, if not the leader of the bri- 
gands who sacked the bank. This belief, at any 
rate, influenced the public mind to no small extent, 
and led eventually to an effort to arrest Jesse James 
a year afterward, which attempt ended in a bloody 
tragedy, as narrated in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER X. 
Jesse's sortie against the militiamen. 

When the war closed, Jesse James was sorely 
wounded. It was only by the most persistent and 
sureful nursing that he could expect to recover. 
When he was able to travel he was furnished trans- 
portation from Lexington to go to Nebraska to join 
his mother, who was then a fugitive from her home. 
It does not appear that he Hngered very long in Ne- 
braska, since we are assured that before the brown 
leaves had fallen, Mrs. Samuels had returned to her 
old home near Kearney, Clay county, Missouri. 
This point appears to be conceded by all who have 
written concerning them. Jesse's wounds healed 
slowly — so slowly that after the lapse of a year he 
was but just able to ride on horseback a little. Dur- 
ing the summer of 1866 Jesse rode around the coun- 
try, but there was still considerable feeling against 
him, and he went well armed. Indeed, he always 
had his pistols " handy to use." Nothing appears 
to have disturbed the quiet of his life until the night 
of February 18, 1867. 

It was a cold night. The ground was covered 
with a thick mantle of snow, and the wind blew bit- 
terly cold from the north ; the full moon shone 
brightly on the glittering garments of mother earth. 
74 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 7S 

Jesse James was at his mother's home near Kear- 
ney, Clay county, tossing under the infliction of a 
burning fever. His pistols were loaded and rested 
beneath his pillow. On that night, five well-armed 
and well-mounted militiamen rode to the home of 
the James Boys. Dr. Samuels heard the heavy 
tread of the armed men on the piazza, and demanded 
their business. He was told to open the door. He 
went up to confer with the sick ex-Guerrilla. He 
asked Jesse what should be done. The sick man 
begged his step-father to assist him to the window 
so that he might look out upon the crisp snow out in 
the moonlight. He looked with a deeper interest at 
the five horses hitched in front of the house. They 
all had cavalry saddles on their backs. He knew 
that they were soldiers, and he well understood the 
object of their coming. It was a moment when de- 
cisions must be reached quickly. He had never 
surrendered, and he never intended to do so. Has- 
tily dressing himself, he descended to the floor be- 
low with his pistols in his hands. The militiamen, 
impatient at the delay of Dr. Samuels in opening the 
door, had commenced hammering at the shutter 
with the butts of their muskets, all the while calling 
to Jesse to come down and surrender himself. They 
swore they knew he was in the house, and vowed to 
take him out dead or alive. Jesse crept softly 
and close to the door, and listened attentively 
until, from the voices, he thought he could get an accu- 
rate aim. He raised a heavy dragoon pistol, placed 



7t 



LIFE And ADVENtURES OF 



the muzzle to within three inches of the upper panel 
of the door, and fired. There was a stifled cry, and 
a heavy body dropped with a dull thud to the floor 
of the piazza. His aim had been deadly. Before 
the militiamen could recover from their surprise, 
Jesse James had thrown the door wide open, and, 
standing on the threshold with a pistol in each hand, 
he commenced a rapid and deadly fire. Another 
man fell dead, and two more men had received 
wounds which were painful and dangerous, and sur- 
rendered to the outlaw they came to capture. The 
fifth man, terror-stricken, fled, reached his horse, 
mounted him, and rode rapidly away in the moon- 
light. 

Thus was commenced that long strife which has 
gone on year after year, and the warfare has made 
Frank and Jesse James the most renowned outlaws 
who have ever appeared on the American continent. 
All the skill and ingenuity of the shrewdest detec- 
tives have been at various times brought into re- 
quisition, but failure has attended all their efforts to 
capture the boys. 

The scene presented at the Samuels house, after 
the flight of the only man of the attacking party 
who remained unhurt, was indeed a sad one. Here, 
in the cold night wind, extended on the open piazza, 
with faces ghastly and white in the moonbeams, lay 
the forms of two human beings, who but an hour 
before, in the prime of life and the full flush of man- 
hood, had ridden to the retreat of the wounded and 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 77 

sick Guerrilla. They were still in death now. And 
the next day friends came weary miles to bear them 
away. 

** Plelpless upon their sable biers, 
They bore them forth with bitter sighs and tears, 
With no gay pageantry they moved along, 
Most silent they, amid a silent throng. 
And there they left them in that drear abode 
Alone with its still tenants and their God." 

And there were two more men who had come 
with brave hearts and steady hands to capture the 
weary, feverish ex-Guerrilla, lying there writhing in 
agony after the attempt had been made. They had 
come with the hope of delivering Jesse James over 
to the law, and thus bind him forever. Now they 
lay completely helpless, and in the power of the dar- 
ing outlaw, who had the name of being devoid 
of the quality of mercy. And yet they were spared 
by him. 

When a large company of armed men arrived at 
the house of Dr. Samuels, the next day, to take 
Jesse James dead or alive, that redoubtable adven- 
turer was many miles away. The place that had 
proved so disastrous to the five militiamen the even- 
ing before, was quiet enough now, and the militia 
ranged through the old farm-house without molesta- 
tion. Jesse was not at home 1 



CHAPTER XL 

IN THE HANDS OF FRIENDS. 

Jesse James, soon after the night attack before re- 
lated, proceeded to Kentucky, where Frank was 
stopping with friends. He had not recovered from 
the effects of the terrible wounds which he had re- 
ceived in the breast just after the close of the war. 
Frank was still unable to ride abroad on account of 
the bullet wound in his hip received on the day of 
the Brandenburg tragedy. In the early part of the 
summer of 1867, Jesse arrived at the house of a 
friend in Nelson county, Kentucky, near the town of 
Chaplin. Frank was already there. In this neigh- 
borhood dwelt a large number of people who were 
either related to them or devoted admirers of the 
noted Guerrillas. They had been the friends and 
entertainers of Quantrell, Marion, Sue Mundy, and 
others of the Guerrillas in the closing days of the 
war. 

Soon after his arrival in Chaplin, Jesse, whose con- 
dition seemed to grow worse instead of better, con- 
cluded to place himself under the surgical care of 
Dr. Paul F. Eve, of Nashville, Tenn. He proceeded 
to Nashville, where he remained for several months, 
and received much benefit to his health. 

In the beginning of the year 1868 Jesse and Frank 

78 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 79 

were once more re-united at the house of a relative 
at Chaplin. From all that can be learned, the life 
led by the wounded desperadoes while with their 
Kentucky friends was as pleasant as could be ex- 
pected under the circumstances. There was a large 
community of people in that section who were in- 
tensely Southern in feeling, and mourned the defeat 
of the cause for which so many noble lives had been 
sacrificed, with an intense grief Every one who had 
fought for that cause was dear to them, and when the 
Missouri youths came to the homes of the Samuels, 
and McClaskeys, and Russels, and Thomases, and 
Savers, they were sure to receive a warm welcome. 

In that part of Kentucky there were scattered 
about many of the adventurous partisans who had 
followed Sue Mundy, Magruder, Marion and other 
Guerrilla chiefs in the days of the war. With some 
of these Frank James had served in the closing days 
of Quantrell's career. 

The Jameses were feted and feasted by the hospi- 
table Kentuckians, and so tenderly nursed that their 
wounds had very much improved. Logan county 
was also the home of many of their friends, and nu- 
merous relatives of the boys, and between these and 
those residing in Nelson county, they passed to and 
fro at will, and wherever they might happen to rest, 
they were honored guests of families who possessed 
the pecuniary means to enable them to be hospitable. 
Fair ladies smiled on them, and gentle hands were 
ready to serve them in the hour of pain. It seems 



80 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

that they should have been happy, or at least con- 
tented. 

But the James boys' career had been stormy ; they 
had an active, restless disposition ; they had lost the 
delicate sensibilities of well organized members of 
society, and the rough experiences through which 
they had passed had evidently destroyed, in a meas- 
ure, whatever of human sympathy had belonged to 
their nature. 

And yet at this time their friends — and they had 
many — believed them to be honorable and honest, if 
desperate in conflict. They knew that they had 
killed many men, but this was excused, because the 
men killed were enemies, and the killing was done 
in combats. So it came about that these most noted 
of outlaws for many years had friends who believed 
in their integrity, and were ready at all times to en- 
gage in the defense of their character. 

The times were favorable. There were many des- 
perate young men turned adrift by the events of the 
war ; men ready to engage in any undertaking which 
promised excitement and gain. Over such, Jesse 
and Frank James could exercise a large influence, 
and from among such they drew allies in the commis- 
sion of crime. 

The individual members of organizations which 
had hovered along the borders, and hung on the 
verge of the great field of warfare, in character one 
half soldier and the other half bandit, were just the 
kind of men from whose ranks recruits for lawless 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES, 8l 

enterprises could be enlisted. In Kentucky and 
Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri, there were many- 
such persons — men who, during the great strife, when 
mighty hosts clashed against each other, and tre- 
mendous events were taking place, had occupied an 
anomalous position which brought upon them the 
hate of the Federals, and incurred for them the dis- 
pleasure of the Confederates, were in a position 
where a step further could not materially alter their 
relations to society. The men who had fought with 
regiments, banded in great armies, whether on the 
side of the Federals or Confederates, did not look 
with any great consideration on those who had lin- 
gered along the borders of war, as independent 
companies of scouts and Guerrillas. 

There were many men in Kentucky at the time of 
which we speak who had been in organizations of 
the character above described — that is, Guerrilla 
bands, both Federal and Confederate. The regular 
soldiers of both armies, whose families had suffered 
in consequence of the partisan warfare, looked with 
ill-concealed dislike upon the free riders of the bor- 
der, and this fact, no doubt, had a large influence fn 
driving many of the Guerrillas into downright out- 
lawry when the war had closed. It was in a com- 
munity of ex-Guerrillas that Frank and Jesse found 
themselves in Kentuck}^ and among such " friends," 
no doubt, their first great project of bank robbing 
had its inception and complete maturity. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE RUSSELLVILLE BANK ROBBERY. 

RusSELLViLLE is a beautiful village — almost grown 
to a city — in a lovely region of country in Logan 
county, Kentucky. The people of Russellville are 
educated and refined. It is the seat of much wealth 
and boasts its colleges and academies. In general, 
Russellville is a quiet place, and from year in to year 
out its quietude is not often broken by any startling 
incident. But things will occur everywhere, some- 
time, to create a profound sensation. It happened 
that this quiet, prim old place should have a great 
and notable sensation. 

It was a bright morning in March. The blue birds 
had returned and were singing their matin songs 
from the budding branches of the trees. Russellville 
was as staid and sober as usual. There was not a 
single thing to indicate that the old town was about 
to be shaken up as it had never been before. The 
bank doors stood wide open, and the cashier stood 
at his desk. An old lady hobbled down the street, 
and a fresh school-miss paused to gaze at the early 
spring flowers which adorned a neighbor's garden ; 
a kitchen maid was singing a ditty to her absent 
swain in the back yard ; and a sturdy citizen crossed 
the street to inquire if a certain bill which he held in 
his hands was good. 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 83 

Nothing strange in all this ? Of course not. Peo- 
ple were simply minding their affairs according to 
their own inclinations. There was a sudden- clatter 
of hoofs that morning, the 20th of March, 1868. 
Terrible shouts and fearful oaths, and the sharp re- 
ports of pistols accompanied the sound of the horses* 
hoofs. The old lady suddenly dropped her staff 
and stood as if petrified ; the young miss ran hastily 
away ; the cashier turned pale, and the sturdy citizen 
hastily retreated back across the street. A dozen 
horsemen, armed with two pairs of revolvers each, 
rode furiously about the streets, and with fearful oaths 
commanded the people to keep in their houses. Two 
of the men rode to the bank, dismounted and rushed 
in. One of them presented a pistol at the head of 
the cashier, and commanded him, under penalty of 
instant death, to be still and make no noise. The 
other took out the contents of the safe, amounting to 
many thousands of dollars ; they then remounted 
and rode away. In a few minutes the streets of Rus- 
sellville were comparatively deserted. The brigands 
had come in, secured their plunder, and had as sud- 
denly disappeared ; the citizens scarcely knew what 
had happened. Surprise prevented immediate pur- 
suit. The bandits had taken the road toward the 
Mississippi. They were traced to that stream and 
across to the rugged hills of Southeast Missouri, and 
then the trail divided up, and all marks of their pas- 
sage were lost. They found friends, did these bcm- 
dits, in West Missouri, 



84 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

Who were the bold raiders? Where did they 
come from and where did they go when they secured 
the rich booty from the plundered bank ? The good 
friends of the James boys declared that it was impos- 
sible that they could have participated in that 
affair. In substantiation of this position they 
pointea to the fact that Jesse James was at 
the town of Chaplin, in Nelson county, which is fifty 
miles or more from Russellville, and that incompara- 
ble raider himself wrote a letter for publication in the 
Nashville (Tennessee) American^ in which he trium- 
phantly points to the fact that at the very time of the 
raid on Russellville, he was at the Marshall House, 
Chaplin, and refers to Mr. Marshall, the proprietor 
of the hotel, for the truth of the statement, that on a 
certain day in March, 1868, he was at his house. But 
unfortunately the date of the robbery, and the day 
which Jesse asserts he spent at Chaplin, were not the 
same days. It was no uncommon thing for Jesse 
James to make more than fifty miles on horseback in 
six hours, in those days when the roads were good. 
He rode no inferior animals — the best blooded horses. 
of old Kentucky were bestridden by the daring 
raider. 

Another thing: Jesse James was only seen in 
Chaplin the day after the robbery, and in the even- 
ing at that ; even if he had been seen late the same 
evening after the robbery, it would not have consti- 
tuted even a presumptive evidence of his innocence, 
.since after the robbery occurred in the morning he 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 85 

could have ridden to Chaplin before nightfall. Just 
previous to the robbery, Jesse had spent much of his 
time in Logan county, almost a dozen miles from 
Russellville, with relatives, of whom he had a number 
residing in that region. As we have before stated, 
Frank had been severely wounded while resisting 
arrest at Brandenburg ; but he was then so far recov- 
ered that he had no difficulty in riding on horseback. 
He had made a number of j'ourneys between his 
usual stopping place at Mr. Sayers' house in Nelson 
county, and the houses of his kin in Logan 
county. The statement made by Jesse that Frank 
was at the house of Mr. Thompson, in San Luis 
Obispo county, California, at the time of the Russell- 
ville bank robbery, is incorrect. Frank had not then 
visited California. 

The friends of the boys, however, were unable to 
make a clear defense for them, and they have been 
generally credited with being not only participators, 
but leaders of the raiders. 

At the time of the robbery, Geo. W. Shepherd, 
Oliver Shepherd, and several others of "the old 
Guerrilla guard," as they were called, had their homes 
or stopping places in Nelson county. Geo. Shep- 
herd had married the widow of the noted Missouri 
Guerrilla, Dick Maddox, who was a member of the 
band which Quantrell led out of that State. This re- 
doubtable warrior, who had assisted at Lawrence and 
Centralia, and had participated in many desperate 
and bloody affrays, met his fate in a terrible conflict 



S6 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

with a Cherokee Indian. Maddox and Shepherd had 
been friends and comrades in the dark days when 
they rode with Quantrell, and as Mrs. Maddox was 
left alone in a strange land, and was yet young in 
years and comely in features, George Shepherd 
readily agreed to console the widow in her affliction 
and perform the duty of a faithful comrade to the 
memory of his friend by espousing his widow. They 
were married and settled in Chaplin before the raid 
on the bank. 

The people of Russellville quickly recovered from 
their surprise by the audacity of the robbers. The 
officers of the law rallied, and there was mounting in 
hot haste and an earnest pursuit of the robbers. Oil. 
Shepherd had suddenly disappeared from Chaplin ; 
several of the old Guerrillas had also gone away, 
and Frank and Jesse James, too, had quietly departed 
from that region of country. 

The Kentucky blood of the pursuers was up, and 
they followed the trail of the robbers with tireless 
energy. They were traced west over hills and 
through valleys. The Cumberland river was crossed, 
and through the rugged region between that stream 
and the Tennessee, they were tracked as foxes might 
have been trailed. But the pursuers were always 
just too late to come up with the gang. Still they 
followed on, and finally reached the banks of the 
Mississippi only to learn that the persons they sought 
had crossed before their arrival, and plunged into the 
wilderness regions of Southeast Missouri. Some 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 8/ 

effort was made to keep on the track of the fugitives 
through the swamps of Missouri, but the traces be- 
came fainter and fainter as the pursuers advanced, 
until among the rugged hills of the Southeast they 
faded out altogether, and the Kentuckians were 
forced to give up the chase and reluctantly returned 
home after a bootless pursuit. 

George Shepherd had married a wife — moreover, 
he had bought a house at Chaplin — and therefore he 
did not travel with his comrades to the West. The 
officers of the law soon found him, and as he was 
one of the suspected parties, and the bank robbers 
had taken Shepherd's horses on which to escape, he 
was arrested and a thorough search was made for 
evidence to convict him. He was taken to Russell- 
ville and placed in jail. The grand jury of Logan 
county at its next sitting found an indictment against 
him, and he was in due time arraigned before the 
Logan county circuit court on a charge of aiding and 
abetting the robbers. The evidence was deemed 
conclusive by the jury before which he was tried, and 
a verdict of guilty was returned and the punishment 
was fixed at three years in the penitentiary at hard 
labor. 

The other members of the band escaped to West- 
ern Missouri. Oil Shepherd, a cousin of George 
Shepherd, was found in Jackson county by the per- 
sistent Kentuckians. They desired to arrest him. A 
requisition was procured from the Governor of Ken- 
tucky, and the executive order of the Chief Magis- 



83 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OE 

trate of Missouri, for the arrest of the fugitive. But 
Oil Shepherd was an old Guerrilla, and he flatly re- 
fused to be taken back to Kentucky as a prisoner. 
The civil officers were deterred from executing the 
warrant of arrest. In those days there were vigilance 
committees in Missouri. To one of these the situa- 
tion of affairs was reported. It was at once deter- 
mined by the vigilantes that Oil Shepherd must either 
submit to arrest or be killed. The company of vigi- 
lantes found him at his home near Lea's Summit. 
Would he surrender? they demanded of him. 
"Never! death first," he shouted back to them. 
Then the bloody work began. But what could one 
man do against twenty-five? There could be but 
one result. The one man must die at last, however 
bold and skillful. So it resulted in this case. Oil. 
Shepherd had been an old Guerrilla under Quantrell, 
and had learned how to shoot and how to despise 
fear. He resisted, and not until he had received 
seven bullet wounds did he succumb. In fact, he 
died fighting. 

The other members of the gang implicated in the 
Russellville robbery escaped. The Jameses soon af- 
ter went to the Pacific Coast, and remained there for 
quite a while. They were on a tour in search of 
health. The hard life which they had led and the des- 
perate wounds which they had received had sadly 
impaired their superb physical systems, and they 
needed rest and time to recuperate wasted energies 
and allow their wounds to heal. 




89 



Death of Oil Shepherd. 



=3^.=2 



90 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

Meanwhile, George Shepherd, shut out from the 
world, toiled on at his unrequited tasks in the peni- 
tentiary at Frankfort. He who had been the free 
rover and wild Guerrilla, the dauntless rider and re- 
lentless foe, in the garb of a convict did service to 
the State, and answered not again when ordered to 
his daily rounds of labor. And he alone of the sur- 
vivors of that band of freebooters who rode so fear- 
lessly and madly into Russellville that morning, bent 
on mischief and crime, was made to feel the heavy 
rod of retributive justice. Oil Shepherd had per- 
ished. Nemesis had overtaken some of the old 
Guerrillas. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE. 

Immediately after the Russellville robbery, Jesse 
James appeared once more in his old haunts in Mis- 
souri. But his physical system had been greatly 
taxed by the tremendous strain to which it had been 
subjected. Twice already had he received bullet 
wounds through the lungs which would have killed 
any man less extraordinarily endowed with vitality. 
Scars of twenty wounds were on his person, and yet 
the man who had gone out from home as a boy; 
entered into close affiliation with a band of the most 
daring and desperate men ever organized in Amer- 
ica ; sustained his part with them, and even sur- 
passed them all in the daring feats they accomplished 
ere yet the ** manly beard had shaded his face," 
after having passed through more exciting scenes 
than any living man, and participated in more terri- 
ble encounters than most men, yet survived, and 
though his terrible wounds had weakened his frame, 
yet his wonderful courage and tremendous reserve 
of vital forces were such as to insure his final restor- 
ation to complete health. 

He had traveled on horseback from the little town 
of Chaplin, on the eastern verge of Nelson county, 
in Central Kentucky, to the western border of Mis- 
91 



9^ Life and adventures of 

souri, in the space of a few days subsequent to the 
20th of March, 1869. Jesse James was seen in Clay 
county, Missouri, in the first days of April of that 
year, and was seen at Chaplin on the i8th of March. 
That he was at Russellville the evidence seems to be 
clear ; and that he led a most exciting retreat from 
that place, through the hill country of Kentucky, 
until he reached the banks of the Mississippi, is one 
of the facts of his history. It was his genius which 
enabled his confederates to escape from a determined 
pursuit of resolute men. Once on the v/est bank of 
the Mississippi, to use a Westernism, " he was on his 
own stamping ground." He knew every ** trail " 
across the swamps of Southeastern Missouri, and 
every pathway in the tangled brakes over the rugged 
hills of the southern counties of that State, were as 
familiar to him as the woodlands about the old farm 
in Clay county. He knew more — that there were 
scattered through the country from Chaplin to Kear- 
ney, a route of more than five hundred miles in 
length, men with the reputation of respectable mem- 
bers of society, who always had a warm welcome for 
him and his daring men. Who, then, could pursue 
and capture him ? There is no room for wonder that 
Jesse James escaped the irate Kentuckians, who fol- 
lowed his trail from Russellville to the banks of the 
Mississippi, and finally lost it among the rugged hills 
and vast forests west of the river. 

Jesse's extraordinary journeys under such circum- 
stances did not tend to the restoration of his physi- 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 93 

cal system, which had been greatly shattered by the 
terrible wounds which he had received at the close 
of the war, in an encounter with a company of Fed- 
eral soldiers in Lafayette county. 

In those days the friends of the Jameses were nu- 
merous in the State of Missouri; for at that time 
scarcely any one believed that they had developed 
into brigands. Among those who advised with 
Jesse James at that time was his physician and 
friend, Dr. Joseph Wood, of Kansas City. It was 
the opinion of this physician that the condition of 
his patient imperatively demanded a change of 
scene, and a more genial climate to insure his restor- 
ation. 

In accordance with this advice, the patient set about 
his preparations for a voyage by sea, and a sojourn 
on the Pacific slope. 

Toward the close of May, 1869, Jesse James left 
the home of his mother near Kearney, Missouri, for 
New York. Here he spent only a few days. On 
the 8th of June he embarked on the steamship San- 
tiago de Cuba, bound -for Aspinwall, crossed the 
Isthmus to Panama, and there again took a steamer 
for San Francisco. The spoils of Russellville allowed 
him means to gratify every desire in the " City of 
the Golden Gate," and he remained there for some 
time. 

Meanwhile Frank James, who was not deemed 
able to make the long ride, in the flight before the 
officers at Russellville, was secluded for a time in the 



94 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

house of a respectable citizen of Nelson county, 
Kentucky. But it was not deemed best that Frank 
should linger long in that part of the country. A 
friend provided a close carriage, and a few weeks 
after the Russellville robbery Frank James was very 
quietly driven northward one evening, passing by 
Bloomfield, through Fairfield, by Smithville, and on 
through Mount Washington to Louisville. Here he 
remained a few days, and then took the cars for St. 
Louis. Arrived in that city, Frank put up at the 
Southern Hotel, registering as " F. C. Markland, 
Kentucky." The name was one he had used before 
when he did not desire that his real name and char- 
acter should be known. Here he met two or three 
of his old comrades, and he spent several days very 
pleasantly with them. Meanwhile he communicated 
with his mother and apprised her of his intention to 
go West across the Rocky Mountains. Mrs. Sam- 
uels met her son at the house of a relative in Kansas 
City, where he remained for two days, and then bid- 
ding farewell to those who had always been true to 
him, he took passage for Cahfornia, where he arrived 
some weeks before the arrival of Jesse. Frank did 
not remain long in San Francisco, but proceeded 
very soon to San Luis Obispo county, and paid a 
visit to his uncle, Mr. D. W. James, who was at that 
time proprietor of the Paso Robel Hot Sulphur 
Springs, a much frequented resort of invalids in that 
county. The friends of the Boys, and Jesse James 
himself, in a published letter, claini that Frank 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 95 

went by sea to California, and that he sailed from 
New York on one of the vessels belonging to the 
Pacific Mail Steamship Line. But this story was 
doubtless set afloat to mislead the public concerning 
the movements of the Boys. The above account we 
have from a gentleman who was at that time a friend 
of the Jameses, and who traveled with Frank from 
Kansas City to San Francisco. He knew the des- 
perado well, and had daily conversations with him 
on the journey. 

After spending some time at the Springs, Frank 
James proceeded to the ranche of Mr. J. D. Thomp- 
son, with whom he had a previous acquaintance, 
gained while that gentleman was visiting in the 
States. The noted ex-Guerrilla remained at the La- 
ponsu ranche for many months, and until after the 
arrival of Jesse. 

The two brothers met at Paso Robel. Here they 
remained for several months. In the autumn they 
went out to the mining districts of Nevada. 

It appears, from information in the possession of 
the writer, that the Boys behaved themselves with 
much circumspection while they were the guests of 
their uncle. Their evil propensities were suppressed, 
and no one who came in contact with the quiet, 
sedate Frank, and the genial, companionable Jesse, 
during those days, would have suspected that these 
brothers were the most daring and dangerous men 
who had ever yet defied the powers of the State, 
and disregarded the demands of society. Some 



96 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

quiet weeks had been passed. The weak lungs of 
Jesse had healed, and the lame hip of Frank was 
well again. The climate had wrought a wonderful 
change in their physical systems. Jesse had grown 
robust, and possessed all the powers of physical en- 
durance which have been since tested and proved in- 
comparable. 

The quiet life at Paso Robel began to be irksome 
to the men whose lives had been passed amid the 
rudest shocks and the wildest storms of excitement 
and passion. They would go out among the miners 
and have a little fun while prospecting there. In 
Nevada, society was in its rudest stages of develop- 
ment. The country was filled with adventurers from 
every country under the sun. In the camps of the 
miners and prospectors were desperadoes from all 
regions, and a visitor to these places who wanted to 
fight only had to say so, and there was no delay in 
getting accommodated. It was then flush times in 
the Bonanza State. 

Frank and Jesse went up to the mountains to take 
a look at the country. They formed some acquaint- 
ances among the adventurers, and they found sev- 
eral old acquaintances from Missouri and Kentucky. 
The rude life of the mining camps was more conge- 
nial to the disposition of the men who had rode with 
Quantrell than the refined society found about a 
fashionable resort for invalids ; and the restless raid- 
ers liked well to linger in the tents of the miners 
among the lofty summits of the Sierras. For 4 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 97 

while they passed their time very pleasantly in such 
associations. They prospected some, and played 
sportsmen in the intervals of time so spent. 

But their pleasant days in the Sierras were doomed 
to draw to an abrupt close. There was a new camp 
formed at a place called Battle Mountain. It will be 
remembered that we are writing of a period when 
the rich mineral discoveries of Nevada had drawn a 
miscellaneous population from the four quarters of 
the globe. Camps and towns sprang up like Jonah's 
gourd — in a night, and disappeared with the noon- 
day sun of the morrow. Battle Mountain was "a 
rattling place ;" the people who had pitched their 
tents there had come in search of gold. Many of 
them were old pioneers, accustomed to hard knocks 
and sudden surprises. Others were " hard visaged 
men," who knew how to flee before the avengers of 
blood — a knowledge gained during years of practi- 
cal experience. They were quick with the knife, and 
"lightning shots." They were inured to scenes of 
danger^ and were not liable to suffer from sudden 
surprises. Frank and Jesse James, accompanied by 
two old Missouri acquaintances, concluded to pay a 
visit to Battle Mountain, ** to shake up the encamp- 
ment," as they said. They found spirits there who 
were congenial and some who were uncongenial. 
At last they brought up at a shanty where women, 
whisky and cards united their attractions to allure 
the old pioneers and chance visitors. The Jameses 
4o not drink^ but they claim to be " handy with the 

6 



98 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

pasteboard." Here they engaged in a game of 
cards with two notorious roughs and blacklegs ; and 
their companions also found a pair of gamesters, 
ready and anxious to join them in a "bout of 
poker." 

For a time the game proceeded without anything 
occurring to disturb the amicable relations of the 
players. At last one of the old Missouri friends of 
the Jameses detected his opponent cheating in the 
game. He charged him with it, and the other de- 
nied the charge and demanded a retraction. Of 
course nothing of that sort could happen. The 
gambler retorted by drawing a knife, and the other 
snatched a pistol from his belt. Jesse James, who 
was sitting at a table a little distance away, saw the 
danger of his friend, and in an instant, just as the 
gambler was in the act of striking the Missourian, 
he threw his pistol out and shot the blackleg through 
the heart. As he turned, the man who had been 
sitting opposite to him, engaged in play, had a pistol 
leveled at his breast. Jesse brought his pistol around 
with a swing, and another gambler fell without a 
groan to the earth — dead ! — shot through the brain. 
By this time the utmost confusion prevailed. Lights 
were overturned, and the place was shrouded in utter 
darkness in an instant of time. There was a crowd 
of twenty or thirty men in the shanty when the firing 
commenced. Every man was armed, and all had 
their weapons in hand. Jesse cried out: 

"Stand aside! Be ready!" The other three men 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 99 

of the party understood what he meant. It was for 
them to get out, and they rushed for the door. A 
pistol would flash and a heavy body would fall with 
a thud to the ground. When the door had been 
gained by his companions, Jesse, who had covered 
their exit, sprang forward to escape from that pan- 
demonium of darkness, suffering and death. Pistols 
were popping and knives were clashing in a horrid 
din. The maimed, writhing in agony, mingled their 
groans and curses in the awful uproar. By the 
flashing of pistols, Jesse saw that Frank and his two 
friends had made their exit, and were firing into the 
crowd as opportunity offered, taking care to not 
shoot toward him. He determined to leave the 
shanty, but two burly roughs, with huge knives, 
stood in the way. A pistol ball quieted one of 
them, and almost before the flash of his pistol had 
faded away, and before the other could think of 
using his knife, Jesse sprang upon him and dealt 
him a fearful blow on the head with the butt of his 
pistol. The gambler sank with a groan to the earth, 
and with a spring Jesse joined his friends on the out- 
side. By this time a light had been placed on a 
barrel behind the slab which served for a counter. 
Three men were seen weltering in their own blood — 
dead. Four others were lying writhing in pain, and 
all were gory from the blood which flowed from 
ghastly wounds. 

The crowd saw all this at a glance. The dead and 
the wounded in the shanty did not include an\- o( 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMESi lOt 

the strangers. The crowd yelled for vengeance on 
the authors of the bloody tragedy. There was a 
shout that awakcxied the mountain echoes for miles 
around, as the infuriated pioneers and gamblers 
surged out of the shanty. 

Meanwhile the Jameses and their friends had re- 
tired a short distance from the place to ascertain the 
extent of the injuries they had received in the 
melee. It was a cloudless night and the stars shone 
brightly. The leaders of the mob soon discovered 
the four Missourians, and ran, yelling, toward them. 

** Back, you d — d miscreants ! Stand back, I say !" 
cried Jesse James. ^ 

But they rushed forward at the top of their speed. 

" Boys, we are in for it," said Jesse, quietly. " All 
right, be ready." Then he shouted : 

** Come on, d — n you ! Just come ahead and be 
killed ! " He had no more than ceased speaking 
when they had approached near enough to open fire. 

" Wait, boys ! Steady ! Every shot must tell ! 
Now !" And as the sound of the last word died 
away, there was the report of four pistols, almost 
simultaneously discharged, and four men fell badly 
wounded ; once more the four deadly pistols were 
discharged, and two more of the howling mob sank 
down in their tracks. The others paused. But they 
gave the Missourians a parting salute as the latter 
moved rapidly away. That salute seriously wounded 
one of the friends of the Jameses, and carried away 
a portion of Jesse's hat brim. But they escaped, 



t02 LIFE AND ADVENTURES Of 

aided by the night, and hastily returned to Winne- 
mucca. Here they learned that intelligence of the 
terrible dark seance at Battle Mountain had preceded 
them, and that it was not a safe place. Aided by 
friends, they remained in seclusion a few days, wait- 
ing an opportunity to get away. During these days 
of retirement they made up their minds to return to 
the States east of the mountains, and when they met 
a favorable opportunity they embraced it, and in 
another week after their departure they were secure 
among friends near their old haunts in Missouri, 
ready to plan still more startling campaigns than 
any which they had yet undertaken. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

WERE THEY DRIVEN TO OUTLAWRY? 

** Those misnamed men 
Whom damned custom had brazed so 
That they were proof and bulwark against sense." 

Were the James boys driven to outlawry? 
. A strange question, no doubt, many readers will 
think, in the light of the history of their lives. And 
yet it is a pertinent question, when we consider the 
tendency of the human mind and conscience to de- 
teriorate under the pressure of circumstances. En- 
vironments have much to do in molding character. 
Perhaps there is not as wide a space between the 
natural characteristics of mind and heart in boys of 
eight as is generally supposed. But philosophizing 
aside. Are there not mitigating circumstances in the 
case of the James boys? We do not undertake to 
defend them — their course is indefensible ; we cannot 
apologize for them ; for outlawry cannot be palliated. 
But let justice be done even to these renowned out- 
laws. Though sinners, have they not been sinned 
against? Though slayers of men, have they had no 
provocation ? Let facts speak. 

When the banner, beloved by the Southern people, 

whether wisely or unwisely, it matters not, was folded 

away forever at Appomattox, that event brought 

103 



104 i-^FE AND ADVENTURES OF 

peace and repose to hundreds, nay, thousands of 
grim, worn soldiers who had bravely striven to up- 
hold the ensign they loved so well. The war ended 
for them, never to be commenced again. 

But all along the bloody borderland there existed 
a distinctly different condition of affairs. The war- 
fare was that of community against community, of 
neighbor against neighbor, and of relative against 
relative. Cole Younger, the Guerrilla, engaged in 
mortal combat with Charles Younger, the Union 
militia officer; it was kindred blood that strove. In 
such a warfare the common ties of humanity are sev- 
ered, and fury and hate come in where love and 
friendship have expired. Such was the situation in 
Missouri. The dissolution of the Confederate Gov- 
ernment did not restore peace in such communities. 
The quarrel was no longer political, and for principle, 
but personal, and for vengeance. For others there 
might be peace, but for contestants in such a strife 
there was no peace. 

If Jesse James took vengeance on Bond, it must 
be remembered that in the dreadful days of the bit- 
ter border war. Bond had gone with his band of mi- 
litia to the Samuels' place, taken Dr. Samuels, Jesse's 
step-father, out, and hanged him by the neck until 
they supposed he was dead, and left him there while 
they went to find Jesse, who was plowing in the 
field. He was but a lad then. But they took him, 
tied him like a felon, and castigated him like a slave 
with a plow line, until faint from loss of blood and 



FRANK AND JESSE JAM^S. i6J 

crazed from the agony of the infliction, he fell in a 
swoon — a mere quivering mass of flesh and blood. 
Jesse James was like other youthful human beings. 
Could he then forget such treatment? Was it not 
natural that he should seek vengeance ? And the 
hour came ; the tormentor fell into his hands ; the 
strong passion overcame the young man, and he slew 
his enemy. And so, too, with Banes and others who 
fell victims to his relentless purpose. They met a 
fate at the hands of the boys which, perhaps, better 
men than the Jameses would have connived at under 
similar circumstances. Thus, during the long, dark 
struggle, old scores were paid, but at the same time 
new causes of offense were given. 

The regularly organized armies of the late con- 
tending sections had been disbanded, and peace os- 
tensibly reigned in the land. But old wounds had 
not healed along the border. There were malignant 
stars in the zenith of the Guerrillas. Hope animated 
them for a space. They sought their childhood's 
homes. Doubtless they loved the scenes familiar to 
them in the old days, before they had learned to be 
slayers of men, as well as others of the race do that 
anchor-spot of memory. But the bright gleam of 
hope faded ; the clouds of anguish overspread their 
sky. The lurid lightning of the old bitterness 
flashed athwart their heavens, and the ex- Guerrillas 
were pursued and hunted, like felons, beyond the pale 
of hope or pardon. 

The resources of the James family had been im- 



io6 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

paired, absorbed, wasted, in the crucial time of strife. 
But they were not permitted to make a peaceful ef- 
fort to build up and restore wasted fortunes. Har- 
assed on every hand, these boys, who were naturally 
of a strong temperament, and perhaps of revengeful 
natures, were yet mere boys who had learned to be 
self-reliant ; impatient of restraint, bold in action, 
and acquainted with the art of slaughter, turned upon 
their hunters and revealed the desperate character 
of the game they pursued. They were not left in 
peace after the light of peace blessed the land and 
made glad other hearts ; and they would have been 
more than human not to have undertaken their own 
protection under such circumstances. If others at- 
tempted to murder them, they did not hesitate to 
slay. So their lives have become lurid with slaughter. 
It must be remembered that we are not attempting 
to justify such a line of conduct; but there are 
many things in connection with human affairs that 
cannot be defended. We look at things as they 
are, and not as they ought to be. Doubtless, it will 
be admitted on all hands that the James boys ought 
not to have led such a wild career of outlawry ; that 
they ought not to have entered upon such a course 
of action ; and finally it will be urged that it would 
have been far better for them, and everything and 
everybody connected with them, to have quietly 
yielded to the inevitable, and voluntarily exiled 
themselves forever from the scenes of childhood and 
all the dear associations of their tenderer and more 



^rAnk And JESSE james. lo^ 

hopeful youth. Certainly, it would have been best 
for them. But such a course would have been con- 
trary to the world's experience of human nature. 

So when vigilance committees were hanging their 
comrades who had been with them by the camp fires 
in the deep forests, and in many a bloody foray; and 
when armed men, fours and sixes, hunted for them ; 
when repose was banished from their home, and the 
phantom shadow of death peered out at them from 
every forest thicket, and from the sombre shades of 
the silent night, these boys rose up in rebellion against 
that society which refused to own them, and that or- 
der which organized the cohorts of vengeance. 
Jesse W. and Frank James, the terrible Guerrillas of 
the war-time, were henceforth to "become enemies 
of every man," or at least outlaws from society, and 
free companions of the highways. It might have 
been different with them. But the long, lingering 
fires of hate burned after the lurid days of slaughter, 
and they were not the persons to refuse the gauntlet 
when thrown at their feet. Never too good by na- 
ture, circumstances have made them desperate, and 
hence, after concluding their bloody Guerrilla record, 
we proceed with their history as outlaws and high- 
waymen of the most remarkable character of any 
known in the annals of history. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE GALLATIN BANK TRAGEDY. 

The sudden appearance among the people of a 
peaceful community of a band of armed men, who 
whoop Hke savages, fire off pistols, swear fearful 
oaths, and issue sharp commands, is calculated to 
produce a feeling of terror, and, for a time at least, 
to paralyze the energies of men. By pursuing tl is 
kind of tactics, the band of robbers which com- 
menced at Russell ville, Kentucky, in 1868, and con- 
cluded their last exploit at Glendale, in the fall of 
1879, have uniformly, with one single exception, 
been able to accomplish their work and make good 
their escape. 

The i6th day of December, 1869, will not be soon 
forgotten by the citizens of the flourishing little city 
of Gallatin, Daviess county, Missouri, because of an 
incident which created a thrill of excitement that 
extended all over the land. Daylight bank robber- 
ies were not events of frequent occurrence until 
these later times. The affair at Russellville had 
taken place many months before, and it was thought 
altogether unlikely that such another audacious rob- 
bery would be soon attempted. 

After the Russellville affair, it was known Jesse 

and Frank James had made a journey to California, 

108 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. IO9 

and it was not until lace in the fall that they returned. 
It was supposed that only the Youngers and Jameses 
were capable of doing such deeds, and it was not 
known that the Boys were at home by any consider- 
able number of people. 

Such conclusions as these proved to be fallacious. 
On the day named — a gray, cold December day — 
the people of Gallatin were suddenly startled by the 
presence, in the streets of the place, of a band of 
armed men, who rode furiously, shouted loudly, and 
swore fiercely at the people, commanding them, in 
sharp, decisive tones, to get inside their houses and 
stay within their own domicils. While a part of the 
band remained out in the streets, two of the robbers 
rushed into the bank. The cashier, Captain John 
VV. Sheets, was behind the counter. He was in- 
stantly covered by a pistol, and imperiously com- 
manded to be still. The other robber proceeded to 
secure the contents of the safe, placed the bank's 
assets in a sack, and walking to the cashier, he placed 
the muzzle of a pistol almost against his temple, and 
fired, the bullet crashing through the brain, and the 
unfortunate gentleman fell dead at the foot of his 
slayer. The robbers regained their horses, mounted, 
and the whole gang rode rapidly away. 

The citizens of Gallatin had seen them come and 
go. They did not remain long. The whole affair 
was the work of a few moments. They soon real- 
ized what had been done, and then there was mount- 
ing in hot haste, and almost as c^uickly as the rofe-^ 



no LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

bers had come and gone, a well-armed posse was 
riding after them in hot pursuit. 

Captain John W. Sheets, the murdered cashier of 
the Gallatin bank, served as a captain in the Mis- 
souri militia, and had often met parties of Guerrillas 
in combat during the war. He was much esteemed, 
and his wanton assassination created a profound sen- 
sation, and a strong desire to capture his slayers 
was manifested throughout the community. The 
whole country was aroused. Daviess county had sent 
many men to the ranks of the militia, and somehow 
the impression rapidly went abroad that the robbery 
had been committed by the James Boys and their 
old associates among the Guerrillas. It stimulated 
them to greater exertions in the pursuit. The rob- 
bers obtained the start, and the men who had ridden 
with Quantrell never made a reconnoissance on indif- 
ferent steeds. Besides, no dashing cavaliers knew 
better how to ride than they. It was an exciting 
chase. The people of Gallatin had been taken by 
surprise. The startling suddenness of the appear- 
ance of the robbers; their matter-of-fact attention 
to the business in hand, and the terrible tragedy 
which concluded the drama, were well calculated to 
create surprise, not to say astonishment. 

The robbers were trailed directly toward Clay 
county. The Gallatin posse, after a hot chase, came 
up with the fleeing bandits. The latter turned upon 
their pursuers in so determined a way that they were 
compelled to call a halt, and retreat to meet rein- 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. Ill 

forcements. This gave the robbers time. They 
continued to retire tov/ard the Clay county Hne. 
It was not difficult to trace them into that 
county. But after they had once penetrated well 
into the territory of Clay, all traces faded out. No 
one had seen such a band of men or any other gang 
like them, and all efforts to discover their retreat 
proved abortive. They disappeared — like the picture 
•thrown out by the magic lantern when the slide is 
withdrawn suddenly and broken — at once and for- 
ever. 

Hearing that they were accused of the robbery, 
the James Boys, who were then at home, mounted 
their horses and rode to Kearney to file their protest 
against the accusation. Their manner convinced the 
citizens — that it might be dangerous to insist upon 
the allegation that they were the Gallatin robbers. 

It was given out, in extenuation of the ^hooting of 
Captain Sheets, that the person who did it believed 
him to be Lieut. Cox, who, it is said, claimed to have 
killed Bill Anderson, when that noted Guerrilla was 
attempting to force the passage of the Missouri river 
in the face of a superior force of Federal troops. 
The murder of the cashier has yet to be avenged. 
Not a dollar of the money has been recovered up 
to this time. 



, CHAPTER XVI. 

ATTEMPTS TO ARREST THE BOYS. 

** The past, we may never forget, 
The present, swift its moments fly, 

The future, we must trust it yet, 
And trusting will not sigh." 

After Gallatin, the situation of the boys became 
perilous, for although their denials and the affidavits 
which they were able to procure, served to convince 
their friends that they were not at Gallatin; still the 
conviction had grown and deepened that they were 
concerned in the robbery, and that they had aided 
and abetted those who committed the crime, even if 
they were not present in person. Immediately after 
the perpetration of the outrage, Jesse W. James wrote 
a letter on behalf of himself and his brother Frank, 
offering to surrender to the officers of the law and 
submit to a trial, on condition that the Governor 
should guarantee them against the chances of mob 
violence and lynch law in Daviess county. 

After examining all the papers in the case, and the 
facts submitted to him, Governor McClurg declared 
that he did not believe the boys had anything to do 
with the robbery, and was fully convinced that they 
could not have been personally concerned in it. 
This had the effect of quieting the suspicions of many 

112 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. • II 3 

persons, but there were others who still cherished the 
opinion that they were the instigators of the robbery, 
and had aided the perpetrators in concealing them- 
selves, and had doubtless shared with them the booty 
which they had secured. In subsequent years this 
opinion grew into a conviction, and now many believe 
that it was Frank James' pistol which proved fatal to 
Captain Sheets. 

Be this as it may, the people of Daviess county 
were aroused, and many of the citizens of Clay county 
also, indeed all Northwest Missouri was excited. 
This led to a systematic and persistent attempt to 
arrest Frank and Jesse James, the generally recog- 
nized leaders of the lawless elements of the State. 

Among those who firmly believed in the guilt of 
the James boys, was Captain John Thomason, of Clay 
county, Missouri, a citizen well known and highly 
esteemed by the people of the county. Captain 
Thomason had served during the war on the Con- 
federate side, and was known as a man of unim- 
peachable courage. The war over, he returned to 
his home, and settled down to peaceful pursuits, with 
an earnest zeal to repair the losses sustained during 
the war. He had been sheriff of Clay county at one 
time, and was an outspoken friend of submission to 
law. He disapproved of the conduct of the James 
boys, and believed that they ought to be arrested 
and tried for their misdeeds. 

So believing, he had the courage to act. Soon 
after the Gallatin robbery, Captain Thomason placed 

7 



114 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

himself at the head of a posse of resolute men, and 
started out to execute his purpose — the arrest of the 
Jameses. These men have never yet Ir^en caught 
unprepared — they cannot be surprised. They were 
aware of Thomason's purposes, they knew the feel- 
ings which he entertained for them, and they were 
ready to meet him. That meeting took place near 
the Samuels residence in Clay county. Thomason 
demanded their surrender. They laughed at the 
idea. Then firing commenced. The affray lasted 
but a few minutes. Several shots were fired, and by 
one of them Captain Thomason's horse was killed. 
The other members of the party did not care to press 
upon men so daring, and Frank and Jesse rode away 
scathless, and Captain Thomason had to regret the 
loss of a valuable horse. 

But this little episode did not deter the Captain 
from freely expressing his opinion about the boys 
and those concerned with them. He had no admi- 
ration foi' the womanly qualities of their mother, and 
expressed himself in language much more forcible 
than elegant in regard to her. 

Some of his harsh sayings about her came 
to the hearing of Mrs. Samuels. She was much in- 
censed against him on this account, and concluded to 
see him about it. It was ten miles from her residence 
to Captain Thomason's house ; but she mounted a 
horse and rode the distance. She entered the house. 
The family was dining, and not the slightest atten- 
tion was paid to her. She went up to where Captain 
Thomason was seated, and said : 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. II5 

" Captain Thomason, I understand that you have 
called me a ! " 

"Yes, I did," replied the sturdy farmer, "and I 
want you to understand that if ever I, or any of 
mine, are injured by you or yours, in the least thing, 
I swear before heaven and earth that there shall not 
be a stone left of your house." 

" Indeed !" was all the reply she made. 

" If any kilUng is to be done," pursued the Cap- 
tain, " it will be well for you to kill all my family, and 
leave none to avenge the injury." 

Mrs. Samuels saw that Captain Thomason was in 
earnest, and that no compromise or apology could 
be extorted, and she took her departure. 

The efforts of Captain Thomason were not all that 
were made for arresting the James boys about the 
time of the Gallatin tragedy. The Daviess county 
officials hunted them. Detectives from Chicago and 
St. Louis tracked them and sought an opportunity 
to entrap them. But these shrewd men were not so 
to be caught. All attempts to capture them proved 
abortive. 



CHAPTER XVII, 

OUTRAGE AT COLUMBIA, KENTUCKY. 

" Gold begets in brethren hate ; 
Gold, in families, debate ; 
Gold does friendship separate; 
Gold does civil wars create." 

The James Boys were good travelers, and did not 
confine themselves to narrow limits. One week they 
might be in Clay county, Missouri, and the next in 
Nelson, or Logan, or Jessamine county, Kentucky, 
and then in five days more or less they would be in 
New York City, and in another week they might be 
found in Texas far toward the Mexican border. The 
Boys understood the advantages of rapid movements. 
When they had " business " on hand, they never ap- 
peared in the vicinity of the scene of their intended 
operation. Only one or two of their most trusted 
friends, under any circumstances, were allowed to 
know anything of their presence in the vicinity. 
When going to commit a robbery in a s.trange place, 
the utmost caution was used to keep down even the 
suspicion that anything was wrong. Thus it was 
with the band at Russellville, and at Gallatin, Mo. 
No one had seen them or even heard of any suspici- 
ous characters around. In both cases the first intima- 
tion the citizens had of the presence of banditti in 

u6 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 11^ 

their streets was the reports of fire-arms and the 
shouts of the dashing robbers as they thundered 
along the highways. They appeared as suddenly as 
a meteor, and departed as quickly as an apparition. 
Such were their tactics at Northfield, where the 
Jameses are known to have taken part in the 
attempt to rob the bank. Precisely the same order 
was observed on the occasion of the outrage at 
Columbia, Kentucky, which we shall now proceed to 
describe. 

Columbia is a pleasant village in Adair county, in 
the middle part of the State of Kentucky. In the 
region of country in which Adair county is included, 
there are many of the relatives of the Boys resident, 
and these were then also friends. Columbia is a 
quiet village, except during the terms of the courts 
which meet there, it being the seat of justice of the 
county. At the time which we are now considering, 
the courts were not in session, and no more sedate a 
town in all Kentucky could be found than Columbia. 

It was a lovely afternoon, April 29, 1872. The 
genial warmth of the sun had decked the earth in a 
carpet of green, clothed the trees in the forest, and 
called into being the myriad flowers, whose perfumes 
scented the breezy air. It was mild, and one of those 
lazy, dreamy afternoons, when, from very excess of 
enjoyment of the beauties of reviving nature, men 
are disposed to fall into sweet reveries. 

But the quietude of Columbia was about to be 
rudely broken in upon, the repose of the beautiful 



Il8 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OP 

spring day disturbed, and the place swept by a 
storm of excitement such as Columbia never experi- 
enced before. But we will not anticipate. 

At the hour of two o'clock, on the afternoon of 
April 29th, 1872, Mr. R. A. C. Martin, cashier of the 
Deposit Bank at Columbia, and Mr. Garnett, a citi- 
zen, and two friends, were sitting quietly conversing 
in the bank office. Neither of the gentlemen was 
armed, and no one could have anticipated danger. 
Everything in the village was quiet, and the country 
around was enjoying the blessings of peace. 

A half hour later the equanimity of the gentlemen 
was disturbed by the entrance of three men, well 
armed, who, with cocked pistols, ordered the cashier 
to surrender up the keys of the safe. Another one 
attempted to shoot Mr. Garnett, but that gentleman 
saved his life by knocking up the pistol, but was burn- 
ed slightly by the flame produced by the discharge. 
All this was the transaction of a moment of time. 

" Will you give up the safe-key, d — n you ? " 
shouted one of the robbers, with a cocked pistol 
presented at Martin's head. 

*' I will not," was the answer. 

"Then, d — n you, will you open the safe? 
Come,- I've no time to wait. If you don't, I will 
blow your brains out. Come, will you ? '* 

" I will not. I will d— " 

The words were cut short. The sentence was 
never completed. There was a loud report, an in- 
voluntary moan from lips that would never speak 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. II9 

again, and the lifeless form of R. A. C. Martin, the 
brave cashier, fell heavily to the floor. The other 
three gentlemen were guarded by one of the robbers, 
who kept his pistol cocked and pointed at them, and 
in view of their dead friend, jested with them 
about the facility with which he could dispatch all 
three of them. They had witnessed a demonstration 
of his skill, and they trembled for their lives. 

Having disposed of the cashier, the two robbers 
who were in the bank commenced gathering up all 
the money and other valuables which were outside 
the safe. They tried to open the safe, but the com- 
bination was with the dead cashier, and the robbers 
were baffled. 

It was soon known that five men, splendidly 
mounted, had entered Columbia, at an hour when 
very few people were abroad. They were armed 
with heavy dragoon pistols, but as they were divided, 
two coming in on one road and three on another, 
the citizens did not take the alarm until they heard- 
the firing at the bank. Two men held the horses of 
the three who went into the bank, and with pistols 
fired at every one who appeared on the street ; and 
by their savage yells and fearful oaths they alarmed 
the people to such an extent that the place soon ap- 
peared as if it had been deserted. 

Gathering everything they could carry away that 
had the semblance of money, placing it in a sack, and, 
one of them throwing it across his horse, the three rob- 
bers who had gone inside the building came out, re- 



120 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

mounted their horses, and with a shout which sent a 
thrill of terror to the hearts of the citizens of Colum- 
bia, they galloped away unmolested. 

The suddenness of the raid ; the terrible character 
of the men revealed by the murder of so highly es- 
teemed a citizen as Mr. Martin; the facility with 
which they shot a vane off a chimney, and their dec- 
larations that they would murder every man in the 
place, which declarations were accompanied by the 
most terrible oaths, all had a tendency to demoralize 
the men of Columbia. Surprise and consternation 
prevented immediate action. But when the cause of 
their fears no longer remained, they rallied, and then 
commenced a pursuit which continued until in the 
mountains of Tennessee, in Fentress county, one of 
the robbers, who went by the name of Saunders, was 
wounded and finally captured. This man was often 
seen, by their friends, with Frank and Jesse James. 
This is conclusive of the fact that the Columbia rob- 
bery was committed by the same gang, who for some 
years are known to have aided the James Boys and 
Younger Brothers in many of their depredations. It 
has been asserted by some persons, in a position 
to obtain reliable information, that Frank James was 
the leader in this raid, and that Bill Longley, the 
noted Texas desperado, formed one of the party. 
At any rate, none of the robbers were ever caught, 
except the Texan, who went by the name of Saun- 
ders, and he was so fatally wounded that death 
closed his existence soon after. 



ii-kANK AND JESSE JAMES. 12 1 

Martin, the murdered cashier, was a gentleman 
held in high regard by the people of Adair county, 
and was a member of the Kentucky Legislature at 
the time of his tragic death. The failure to catch 
the robbers on this occasion had the effect of creat- 
ing in the public mind the behef that an organized 
band of bank breakers existed, and sometimes the 
names of the Jameses and Youngers were mentioned 
as leaders of the band. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

OUTOFEXILE. 

As Frank and Jesse James, the celebrated out* 
laws, live separate and apart from the rest of man- 
kind, they have no confidence in men, and will not 
receive the confidence of others. Frank is a self- 
possessed, silent man, who cares little for the society 
of his fellows. Jesse, on the contrary, under some 
circumstances, might have become a rollicking, 
good-humored citizen, given to " merry jests and 
healthy laughter." Both have schooled themselves 
to wariness and a caution which keeps guard over 
their words at all times. They are temperate to the 
extent of total abstinence from every thing which 
could intoxicate. In brief, the James Boys are brave 
as men ever become; they are daring, but not reck- 
less ; they are intrepid to a degree perhaps unex- 
celled in any who have ever lived on this globe ; no 
combination of circumstances or conditions can place 
them in a position to be surprised. In the midst of 
imminent personal danger they are cool and col- 
lected as if they were sitting at a table with a party 
of friends. They have made human nature a study, 
and have noted its every manifestation. They expect 
no mercy from a society which has long ago prO" 
scribed them, and they have little emotional regard 

122 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 12^ 

to waste on that social organization which spurns 
them. Brothers in outlawry, separated from the 
balance of mankind by an impassable gulf which 
they have created themselves, they have learned to 
hate the representatives of law and order, and their 
defiance is not to be despised. 

Superadded to physical courage unequalled, they 
possess cunning and craft never surpassed. With 
mental gifts which, properly directed, might have 
made them renowned as leaders of men in the better 
walks of life, they are no trifling foes to the vindica- 
tors of lawful authority. 

These brothers, when under their true names, 
never even associate together. They do not travel 
the same road in company, and never travel the 
same way on the same day. Though never together, 
they are never far apart. If one needs assistance 
the other is sure to be near at hand to render it. If 
one should fall, it is safe to assume that his fall would 
be terribly avenged by the other. They ride at will 
over the vast plains of Texas, nearly always alone, 
unless danger threatens, and neither savage abori- 
gines or wild borderers can make them afraid. They 
are veritable roving kings of the plains. In the 
haunts of civilization they are no less men to be 
dreaded and avoided. The quick pistol and the un- 
erring aim cannot be despised. Dead men tell no 
tales, and the man who would betray will not return 
to reveal their counsels. Whicher sought them and 
Whicher died; Askew would surrender them, and 



124 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

he, too, perished on his own threshold. They seem 
to possess the occult power of reading other men's 
very thoughts. Such are the characteristics of the 
James Boys. Bold, shrewd, cool, deliberate men, 
whom no danger can appall; no sudden surprise can 
disconcert. They are always ready, and can act in- 
stantaneously whatever may be the emergency. 

But it must not be supposed that these men, though 
outlaws, are exiles from the haunts of men. As 
Jameses they are seldom seen, by even the most in- 
timate of the associates of other days. But they 
are not always the terrible outlaws to the seeming of 
men. Nor are they condemned to a lonely life away 
beyond the borders of civilization among wild herds 
and roaming savages. They have travelled much, 
and have carefully studied ; they know the ways of 
the world, and avail themselves of that knowledge to 
enjoy some of the privileges and pleasures of civili- 
zation. Many times when they were hunted in the 
out-of-the-way regions of the country, they have 
been enjoying life as respectable gentlemen among 
the citizens of our Metropolitan centers. While 
Pinkerton's men have sought them among the forests 
of Clay county, Missouri, they have calmly reposed 
in the Grand Pacific hotel of Chicago ; while Mc- 
Donough's ** staff" hunted the outlaws in Western 
Missouri, they were listening to the soul-stirring 
strains of Kellogg and Carey in St. Louis. 

It must be known that for years they have led a 
double existence. They have many names, and are 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 125 

capable of assuming any character. The same cir- 
cumspection in speech and action which enables 
them to successfully plunder a bank or overhaul an 
express train is carried with them into social life, and 
enables them to make friends and secure immunity 
from annoyance, and disarms all suspicion. 

The plundered money of an express train permits 
them to appear as gentlemen at the Fifth Avenue 
hotel. New York, and Jesse James as Charles Law- 
son, of Nottingham, is not regarded as an outlaw in 
New York society. It must be remembered that the 
James Boys are not altogether illiterate, nor did they 
spring from a parentage of uncouth, unlettered rus- 
tics. They have made voyages by sea, and have 
been thrown with persons of culture and refinement. 
Their father was a man of decided culture, and they 
have many relatives of education and refinement. 
An uncle of theirs is a somewhat prominent citizen 
of California, recognized as a gentleman of intelli- 
gence and good breeding. It is, therefore, not so 
difficult for them to play the role of gentlemen even 
in refined society. 

The Jameses have various names which they as- 
sume as occasion requires. Another peculiarity of 
their method is the respectable character of their 
friends in their own immediate neighborhoods. These 
are respectable farmers and stock-traders, and mer- 
chants and what not. Among their neighbors they 
are kind and hospitable, and in every transaction 
scrupulously honest. On Sunday they are punctu- 



J26 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

ally at church service, and are usually liberal con- 
tributors to all neighborhood charities. No one would 
for a moment suspect that such persons could pos- 
sibly be in league with the most desperate outlaws 
who ever lived. Such good neighbors and upright 
persons surely can do nothing wrong — so the people 
thinkv Among these, Frank and Jesse are not known 
under their own proper names, and if they were it 
would make no difference. They are circumspect 
when with such people, and sometimes can assume 
the piety of Puritans. 

It is related of the boys that on several occasions 
after a great robbery, as known and respectable citi- 
zens, they have joined in the pursuit of the maraud- 
ers without exciting the least suspicion that they 
were concerned in the affair. The following story of 
Jesse has been repeated among their acquaintances : 

One day — it was the second after the Corydon 
bank robbery — he was riding along a not much fre- 
quented highway, when he saw two men in pursuit. 
Confident that they had not seen him, he turned his 
horse's head toward them and rode up the road to 
meet them. They were citizens, well mounted and 
well armed. Jesse wore Grangers' clothes, and at 
once assumed a rustic simplicity which comported 
well with his garb. When he had approached near 
enough he quie tl saluted the robber hunters, and in 
a simple manner began to converse with them in the 
following style : 

" Well, gentlemen^ hev you met anybody up th^ 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 12/ 

road ridin' of a hoss an' leadin ov another one, 
'cause you see as how I Hves down on the Noder- 
way, an' some infernal thief has gone off with my 
best two hosses. I hearn about two miles furder 
back at the blacksmith's shop that er man passed 
there about a hour an' a half ago with two hosses, an* 
they fits the descripshun of mine to a T. Hev you 
seen sich? " 

*' No. Where are you travelling from ? '* 

" Why, Lord, I've come all the way from the No- 
derway. The infernal thieves are just usin' us up 
that way. I wish I'd come on the infernal son of a 
seacook whose taken my hosses. I do, you bet, I'd 
go fur him with these 'ere irons. I would that ! " 
And Jesse revealed his " weepons " as he called them. 

"Did you see anybody on the road ahead?" 

** Not for sum miles. I met four ugly lookin' cus- 
tomers this mornin'. They looked like they might 
*a been hoss-thieves theirselves. D — n the hoss- 
thieves !" 

** Thieves are plenty now-a-days. They come into 
towns and break banks in open daylight. How far 
did you say the four men were ahead?" 

" Well, I didn't say, but it must be more'n two 
hours since I met 'em, an' they were a ridin' purty 
fast, an' I've rid my hoss almost down, as you can 
see." 

"What kind of looking men were they?" asked 
the robber hunters. 

" Well, one was a sizable nrian, with long, red 



128 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

beard, an* a flopped black hat on, aridin' on a big 
chesnut sorrel hoss, an* one more was a smallish 
man, with very black hair and beard, and sharp black 
eyes, an* he was a ridin' on a roan hoss, an' another 
was an oldish man, with some gray among his beard, 
an* he wore a blue huntin* shirt coat, an' he was a 
ridin' a gray hoss, and the last feller was a little 
weazle-faced chap, with tallowy complexion, who 
didn't ware no beard, an* he rode on a dark brown 
hoss." 

The two robber hunters then consulted together. 
"That's their description," said one. "Precisely," 
said the other. " Shall we follow ? " asked one. " I 
would like to," replied the other. " But there are 
four of them," was the remark in rejoinder. " Yes 
that is bad. If Ed, Dick and Will would just hurry 
up. Those fellows are no doubt very dangerous 
men," was the comment of one. " You bet they 
are," was the response. 

All this time Jesse had listened as an interested 
party. Now he thought he was privileged to make 
an inquiry. 

" What's up, strangers, anyhow?" Jesse asked. 

** You blow it ! Don't you know that the Corydon 
bank, up in Iowa, was robbed yesterday." 

Jesse opened his eyes in well-feigned surprise. 
" You don't say so ! " he ejaculated. 

"Yes, in broad daylight, and the men you met are 
the robbers, no doubt. There's a big reward offered 
to catch them." 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 1 29 

"What's this country a comin' to, anyhow? Hoss 
thieves down on the Nodervvay, an* bank rogues up 
to Iowa. 'Pears like hard workin' honest folks can't 
get along much more." • 

" Could you go back with us?" 

" I'd like to, but the cussed hoss thieves will get 
away. Besides, you see, my hoss is mighty nigh 
played out hisself. Howsumever, I might ride with 
you as fur as I can. D — n all thieves, say I, don't 
you?" 

And Jesse actually turned around writh the two 
pursuers of the robbers, in pursuit ot another posse 
of pursuers which Jesse had been enabled to accu- 
rately describe by having seen them pass him while 
lying snug in a dense thicket. 

" They might catch the robbers, an' as he'd hev a 
sheer ov the reward, it would be better'n nothin' at 
ail fur his stolin bosses." 

For some miles he kept company with the robber 
catchers, until his horse becoming lame, and Jesse 
getting near a railway station, rendered further pur- 
suit of bank robbers distasteful to him, and as his 
excuse was received as valid, he bid his late travel- 
ing companions an enthusiastic adieu, boarded a 
night train, and was in the vicinity of home next 
morning. Those were Jesse's courting days. 

The writer of these pages has been informed by a 
reputable citizen of St. Louis, that at a time when 
the detective forces of both St. Louis and Chicago 
were out in the western part of the State, hunting 

8 



130 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

for the James Boys and Younger Brothers, that he 
saw and conversed with Jesse James on the corner 
of Fifth and Chestnut streets, St. Louis, and that on 
that occasion Jesse attended the opera, Max Stra- 
kosch's troupe being then in the city. Of course 
Jesse James was not the name the people called him 
by, but he was to all seeming Mr. William Campbell, 
a most respectable shipper of cattle from Wichita, 
Kansas. As Mr. Campbell, he had business rela- 
tions with many of the citizens, who esteemed him 
as " a very clever gentleman." At that time, accord- 
ing to the statement of the gentleman upon whose 
authority this incident is given, Jesse remained in 
St. Louis a number of days. His associations were 
excellent, and he was a visitor on 'Change, and ven- 
tured even into the Four Courts building, in com- 
pany with a well-known citizen, who was, of course, 
ignorant of his true name and character. It is be- 
lieved that during this trip he made banking arrange- 
ments, and that the Boys now carry a heavy bank 
account in some St. Louis bank. Of course this 
business is transacted under assumed names. 



CHAPTER XIX.5 

THE CORYDON RAID, 

Thus far no arrests had been made of the plunder- 
ers of the banks at Russellville, Kentucky ; Gallatin, 
Missouri, and Columbia, Kentucky. Boldly the bri- 
gands had ridden, and skillfully they had executed 
their purpose, and, we may almost say, peacefully 
they rode away when their deeds were done. At 
first, people knew not what to think of these daring 
daylight raids. The best detective skill was placed 
at fault in ferreting out the haunts of the robbers. 
Russellville and Gallatin are separated by many 
hundreds of miles. Could the robbers of the former 
possibly be the raiders into the last-named place? 
And Gallatin is far removed from Columbia ; was it 
possible that the murderers and robbers at the first- 
named place were the same persons who astonished 
the people, murdered the cashier and plundered the 
bank at Columbia? People asked these questions, 
and no one was found able to answer them. Scarcely 
had the people ceased to talk, and the excitement 
incident to the bold raid on Columbia, with its con- 
comitant horror, died away, ere the country was 
shaken by the recurrence of a similar daring outrage 
^n another state. 

It was the old story repeated. This time a flour- 

J31 



132 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

ishing town in Iowa was selected for the scene of 
exciting events. In Corydon there was, and there 
still is, a bank. In that town a considerable amount 
of business is transacted, and it was a season of the 
year — June 28th, i8f3 — when much of the capital 
usually employed in mercantile transactions — it was 
reasonable to infer — was held in reserve by the bank, 
and the raiders calculated on a large prize to compen- 
sate for the risk taken. Certainly the men who went 
to Corydon were trained in the same school in which 
the Russellville, Gallatin, Columbia and Northfield 
robbers were at one time pupils. Riding into town 
in daylight, when the inhabitants were out and 
abroad pursuing their usual avocations, the thor- 
oughly armed and well-mounted desperadoes pro- 
ceeded to the bank. Three of them dismounted, 
drew their pistols, and entered the office. Taken 
entirely by surprise, the cashier and two other gen- 
tlemen who were present, could offer no resistance. 
In fact, the memory of Gallatin, and the fate of poor 
Captain Sheets, came back to them with painful dis- 
tinctness. They were paralyzed before the dark 
chambers of the huge dragoon pistols, and could not 
even so much as protest against the proceedings. 
They yielded to the inevitable. 

The horsemen who remained in the street ordered 
all citizens to retire to their houses, and, with fearful 
imprecations, threatened to blow the heads off those 
who manifested the slightest hesitation in obeying 
their commands. Meanwhile, the bandits on the in- 



§RA^k AND JESSE JAMES. tjj 

Side were exercising their pleasure with the assets of 
the bank. The safe was opened and its contents 
raked into a sack which the robbers carried along. 
During the progress of their labors in "taking in " 
the valuables of the institution, one of them, who 
seemed to have been deputied to stand guard over 
the persons found in the place, amused himself by- 
jesting at their distress, and cheerfully asserting his 
ability to pick the buttons off their coats with pistol 
bullets. The robbers remained but a few minutes. 
The citizens were becoming aware of what was 
transpiring in their midst, and were recovering from 
their surprise, and rallying to contest with the rob- 
bers. With great oaths they bade the people in the 
bank to remain perfectly quiet until they were gone, 
forced them to the door while they retired, regained 
and mounted their horses, and, shouting loudly, they 
rode rapidly away, and were out of town many min- 
utes before any one was ready to go in pursuit. 
They were pursued afterward, but none were cap- 
tured. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE CASH BOX OF THE FAIR. 

Fair time ! Kansas City was gay with flags and 
streamers and banners. It was a holiday season. 
The streets were thronged and trains from Leaven- 
worth and SedaHa, and St. Joseph and Moberly, and 
Lawrence and Clinton and regions further removed 
from Kansas City, brought crowds of men, women 
and children to see the show. It was a lovely Octo- 
ber day. The temperature was mild, and the sun 
shone through an atmosphere which tinged his rays 
with gold. 

All day the great crowd surged and circled about 
the grounds and through the textile hall, and the 
art gallery, and the agricultural exhibition, and 
among the fat kine and the lazy swine, the sheep and 
the horses, and the poultry coops. It was a good 
day, so the "management" thought, one of the very 
best they had ever had. Shrewd mental arithmeti- 
cians declared there was not a soul less than twenty 
thousand visitors present that day, and an incident of 
some importance has placed it forever out of the 
power of any one to disprove the statement of the 
mental arithmetician. The management, too, from 
that day to this, have been unable to count the gate 
money. Why not we now proceed to tell. 

134 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. I^^ 

The people visiting the fair were deeply interested 
in "the speed and bottom" of sundry "blooded 
horses" which were making time around the race 
track. The sun was getting low in the west. It 
was the last " ring " to be exhibited that day. Of 
course no one would think of paying their entrance 
fee and go away without seeing the races. 

While the great multitude was so engaged, there 
was a commotion near the entrance gate. The level 
beams of the declining sun cast gigantic shadows 
over the ground. A sudden clattering of horses, 
hoofs on the beaten road aroused the guardians at the 
gate. What could it mean ? The noise came nearer. 
The guardians looked up. A strange sight met their 
gaze. A band of well mounted, well armed, strange, 
weird looking men, seven in number, dashed up to 
the gate. Among some of the spectators it was sup- 
posed that these singularly brigandish looking men, 
were simply actors, that they had been employed by 
the "management" for the entertainment of the 
visitors to the fair — that it was, in short, an irruption 
of the " Cowbellions," or some such mystic order of 
men. Even the treasurers in their " cuddy boxes " 
did not comprehend the character of the movement. 

But they were not kept in doubt long. Riding 
directly to the receiver of money, who, like Matthew, 
of saintly memory, was sitting at the receipt of cus- 
toms, two of them sprang to the ground, drew 
their pistols, and rushed up to the cashier. With a 
fearful threat they commanded him to remain quiet, 



1^6 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

and designate the money box. What could he do? 
Instantly the other robber seized the cash-box. The 
men who still remained mounted covered the retreat 
of the two who did the seizing. They remounted, 
fired a volley as a warning, and dashed away with the 
receipts of the day, probably ^8,000 or ^9,000. 

There were twenty thousand people, they said, on 
the ground. And yet in the sight of all these the 
brigands had done this thing, and were galloping 
away unmolested. There were hundreds who saw 
them, and if any old Guerrilla comrade was one of 
them, and recognized Frank and Jesse James, and 
Cole and Bob Younger, they said nothing about it. 

As soon as the " management " of the fair and the 
pohce authorities, and sheriffs, and constables, and 
marshals had time to think and consider the neces- 
sity for energetic measures in efforts to capture the 
brigands, there was mounting in hot haste of police 
officers, marshals and other enforcers of the law, and 
pursuit was commenced with great vigor. But the 
pursuers had little better success than those who went 
after young Lord Lochinvar when he eloped with the 
bride ofNetherby Hall, whom "they never did see." 
The pursuers of the robbers of the gate did hear 
of a man who was riding along a country road in Clay 
county who looked as if he might have been a rob- 
ber, but the robbers they never did see. 

The fact of the matter is, the robbers rode away 
about five miles over the hills, until they came to a 
piece of wild forest country, rode into the woods; 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. ij^ 

came to a sequestered glade ; struck a light ; emptied 
the cash out of the box ; counted and divided the 
spoils; remounted their horses, and favored by the 
darkness of the night, and their thorough knowledge 
of the country, they went their way, every man 
choosing his own route. Jesse and Frank James 
made a visit to the east part of Jackson county to see 
some friends, and Cole and Bob Younger, passing 
down to the neighborhood of Monegaw Springs, to 
visit Mr. Theodoric Snuffer and others of their friends 
and relatives. 

A great many people did not believe that the James 
Boys and Younger Brothers had anything to do with 
this robbery, or had ever had anything to do with 
any robbery at that time. But there is now no longer 
a doubt that the Boys enjoyed the good in this life 
which the receipts at the fair ground gate could pro- 
cure for them. 

An incident in connection with the robbery at the 
fair ground gate is of sufficient interest to bear re- 
production here. As we have before related, the 
robbery took place while the attention of the people 
was deeply engrossed in the horse races then in pro- 
gress on the track. That day Mr. Ford, a well 
known journalist of Kansas City, was acting treasurer 
at "the pool stand." There was a sum of money in 
the box amounting to between ^8,000 and ^9,000. 
Mr. Ford was seated upon the box when a couple of 
strangers came along. One of them approached the 
treasurer, and entered into a conversation about as 
follows : The stranger remarked, 



i^S LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

" You must have considerable money in there ?" 

" Well, yes," responded Mr. Ford. " There is a 
considerable amount of cash in here." 

'* Suppose the James Boys should come and de- 
mand it ; what would you do ?" asked the stranger. 

" Well, they would have to fight for it," replied 
Mr. Ford. " They might kill me, but somebody would 
have to be killed before they could get this box away, 
that is certain." 

"You would fight for it, eh?" responded the 
stranger. 

" That I would," said Mr. Ford. 

"If you knew it was the James Boys who made 
the demand ?" asked the stranger. 

" Certainly I would," replied Mr. Ford. 

The stranger gazed sharply at the treasurer of 
"the pool stand " for an instant, and, turning about, 
walked away without further remark. 

Mr. Ford had met Frank James before, on some 
occasion, and was convinced that the person who 
addressed him was no other than Frank James. He 
recognized him beyond a doubt before he had passed 
out of sight. 

That evening the robbery was consummated. 
Other respectable parties saw Frank and Jesse James 
that day about Kansas City, but for a time they were 
able to beguile the public into the belief that they 
were not present on that occasion. But time has 
furnished sufficient evidence to connect them with 
that daring enterprise. 



CHAPTER XXL 

STE. GENEVIEVE. 

Ste. Genevieve ! To many it calls up sweet mem- 
ories, and in many hearts the name is sacred and 
holy. The very words sound as if full of gentle- 
ness, and love, and purity. And yet, in the very 
midst of the Ste. Genevieve of Missouri, acts of 
wickedness have been committed which from, their 
very nature, startled the whole people of the West. 

Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, is an old, old town. 
More than a century ago it was a beacon light of 
civilization, in the midst of the vast wilderness then 
called the "far West." And the people of Ste. 
Genevieve are quiet and sedate, and still preserve, 
with the traditions of the venerable past, the grand, 
courtly ways inherited from their ancestors from the 
banks of the Rhone and the Saone. When spring- 
time comes, Ste. Genevieve is redolent with the 
perfumes of many flowers, and when the sun climbs 
higher toward the northern parallel, Ste. Genevieve 
reposes amid gardens of summer roses. Why 
should brigands dare place their unhallowed feet on 
the dust in these ancient streets ? If they were not 
brigands, they would have loved to inhale the per- 
fumed air of the old gardens. But being brigands, 
they preferred to handle the gold which the fathers 
139 



146 LtFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

of some generations of men commenced to hoard. 
And for this cause they came to Ste. Genevieve. 
Brigands are not a sentimental race of beings. 

Tuesday morning, May 27th, 1873, was lovely, as 
such spring days are, when the sun is bright, and the 
flowers blooming, and the air balmy. Mr. O. D. 
Harris, cashier of the bank known as the Ste. Gene- 
vieve Savings Association, being a gentleman of fine 
sensibilities, thought so as he sniffed the delicious 
aroma of the perfume-laden air, when he wended his 
way to the bank, and so he said to his friends who 
saluted him by the way. Arriving at the bank — it 
was just about the hour of opening — he was joined 
by young Mr. Rozier, a son of General Firman A. 
Rozier, then president of the bank. As Mr. Harris 
was about to enter the bank office, his attention was 
momentarily engaged by the appearance of two men 
who were walking on the street in front of the build- 
ing, and looking up at it with an intense interest. 
They were just passing it, when suddenly they 
turned, and came back as though they intended to 
enter. They approached the steps and comnienced 
to ascend them, preceded by Mr. Harris, who, hav- 
ing reached the front office, started at once to go 
behind the counter. He had not progressed half the 
distance when he was suddenly arrested by a harsh, 
authoritative command : 

" Stop ! Surrender, d — n you ! " 

Of course Mr. Harris stopped, but could not turn 
round, because the fellow who had given the com- 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. I4I 

mand had two pistols, with muzzles against his 
temple. 

The other fellow presented a pistol at the head of 
young Rozier, and called out : 

" You keep still, you d — d little rat, if you don't 
want to die in an instant.'* 

"I? for what?" 

"Not another word, young chap ! That's enough ! 
A blabbing tongue can be stopped d — d easy." 

Fearing to remain, and impelled by a sudden and 
overpowering desire to take his departure, young 
Rozier sprang down the steps, near the landing of 
which he was standing, and fled swiftly from the 
place. As he ran away, the fellow fired at him, the 
bullet cutting its way through his coat on the shoul- 
der, and just grazing his person. 

A neighbor across the way saw the robber with 
his pistols at the cashier's head, and started to get 
his gun. Just at that moment the other robber fired 
at Mr. Rozier, and the wife of the neighbor, seeing 
the predicament of Mr. Harris, dissuaded her hus- 
band from attempting to fight them, because she 
feared resistance would inevitably lead to the shoot- 
ing of Mr. Harris. Young Rozier, after his escape, 
gave the alarm to the citizens, who at once began 
preparations to make an attempt to capture the bold 
marauders. 

Meanwhile Mr. Harris, without arms, was helpless, 
and could only comply with th? Remands of the 
robbers. 



142 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

" Open that safe ! " thundered out one of them. 

" Certainly, sir. I cannot do otherwise," said Mr. 
Harris. The safe was opened. 

By this time the other robber, who had pursued 
young Rozier, joined his comrade in the bank. A 
money package, containing upwards of ^3,600, was 
secured. Then the thief took the coin box, contain- 
ing between three and four hundred dollars, princi- 
pally in gold. By this time the town was aroused, 
and men began to move toward the bank. The rob- 
bers had no time to waste. Turning to Mr. Harris, 
they emphatically commanded : 

" D — n you, come with us ! " Mr. Harris obeyed. 
What else could he do ? 

When they had gone about fifty yards along the 
street, they turned to the little knot of women and 
boys collecting about the bank building, and 
shouted : 

" Hurrah for Sam Hilderbrand ! " and continued 
to move rapidly away. Two hundred yards from the 
bank they came to two other men equally well 
armed, and all having superb horses, who awaited 
their coming. Here, perceiving that Mr. Harris 
wore an elegant gold watch, one of the robbers took 
it from him, and transferred it to his own person. 

Then all four of the men started to get on their 
horses. Just at that time one of the horses got loose 
and ran off. A German farmer, in a wagon, happened 
to be passing. Him they compelled, under the most 
(iire threats of immediate extermination, to go after 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. I43 

the horse. The German caught the horse and 
brought him back to where the robbers still held 
Mr. Harris. Then they all mounted and rode rapidly 
away, not forgetting to fire a salute at the crowd of 
citizens who had started in their direction. By this 
time fully a dozen citizens had armed themselves, and 
taking horses, were ready for pursuit. They followed 
the robbers rapidly, and soon came up with them. 
But it was at once evident that the four men were 
desperadoes, who would not submit to arrest. They 
fired at the pursuing posse, and compelled them to 
fall back. Then the whole population turned out, 
and went in pursuit. But they never came up with 
them, and soon lost even the trail which they fol- 
lowed. 

Some miles from Ste. Genevieve the robbers met 
a farmer going toward the town. They informed 
him that he would find something valuable, which 
belonged to the bank, in the road ahead of him. 
In accordance with their statement, the farmer found 
the empty coin box and a lot of papers scattered 
about. The robbers had taken away a number of 
valuable papers belonging to the sheriff and others, 
for which they had no use, and these they had con- 
siderately thrown away. 

This was one of the boldest robberies which had 
ever taken place at that time in the West. The 
** Ste. Genevieve Savings Association " building was 
situated in the most populous part of the town of 
Ste, Genevieve, with a population of about three 



144 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

thousand souls. The street through which they 
passed to reach the bank was the most traveled 
thoroughfare in that part of the country. It hap- 
pened in broad daylight, when all the people of the 
village were engaged about their ordinary concerns. 

Of course a deed like this was calculated to create 
a sensation. -The citizens of Ste. Genevieve pursued 
the bandits, but lost them, and even all traces of the 
route which they had taken. What could be done? 
That was the question. 

Mr. Harris went up to St. Louis on the 28th of 
May to see the police authorities in that city. Gen- 
eral Rozier, at that time a State Senator, and on 
duty at Jefferson City, as a member of the State 
Board of Equalization, was advised of the robbery, 
and went down to St. Louis to confer with Mr. 
Harris and the Chief of Police. Then the hunt was 
commenced, and prosecuted with a great show of 
vigor for a time. Theories as to who the robbers 
were appeared in the public journals almost every 
day. Some said it was Sam Hilderbrand — who was 
not known to be dead then — and his gang of desper- 
adoes ; some said that it was Cullen Baker's crowd 
from Arkansas ; others thought it might possibly 
be the James Boys and Younger Brothers who " put 
up the job," but were far from satisfied that they 
" were the lads who did it." In those days there 
were a vast number of very respectable people who, 
while admitting that Frank and Jesse James, and Cole- 
{iian and James Younger, were dangerous qien, so far 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. I45 

as taking the life of fellow-beings was concerned, 
would at the same time repel any insinuations that 
they might possibly raid a bank or flag a train. No, 
they were too honorable and honest for that sort of 
business. While the people were discussing these 
questions, the band, of which the James Boys were 
the leading spirits, was enjoying life on the spoils of 
Ste. Genevieve. 9 



CHAPTER XXII. 

A RAILWAY TRAIN ROBBED IN IOWA. 

'* Robin Hood and his merry men," of Sherwood 
forest fame, have left a name indelibly written on the 
pages of history. In the days of our youth we have 
heard or read about Claude Duval and Jack Shep- 
herd, and their wonderful exploits in old England ; 
and we have a faint recollection of one John A. Mur- 
rell, who obtained great distinction as an outlaw in 
the Southern section of our own country. The 
Harps who infested the passes of the mountains of 
East Tennessee were celebrated robbers in their 
days. And that shrewd mongrel of the commingled 
blood of old Castile and a red daughter of the west- 
ern wilds, Agatone, the terror of the Rio Grande 
border, made no little noise in his day as a daring 
brigand. But neither these nor the celebrated Fra 
Diavola were like the brigands we are speaking 
about. 

William de la Marck, the outlawed nobleman of 
the low countries, and known in history as '' The 
Wild Boar of Ardennes," plundered by the whole- 
sale. There was nothing little or mean in his meth- 
ods. He would scorn to pounce upon a lonely trav- 
eller and demand his purse. He sacked villages and 

plundered caravans. In this our Missouri outlaws 

146 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 14/ 

resemble "The Wild Boar of Ardennes." They do 
not wait in gloomy places to catch a single wayfarer; 
they do not meet a weary traveller on the highway 
and cry out to him, "Your money or your life!" 
They would despise such petty meanness. 

After Ste. Genevieve they rested. But their sea- 
son of repose was not long. A new campaign was 
planned. Hitherto they had depredated on the 
banks. But they were about to commence another 
line of business. The whole question was, no doubt, 
discussed with profound interest in their secret con- 
clave. Such a thing as plundering a railway train 
was something new. The public mind had not be- 
come accustomed to read accounts of the arrest of 
railway trains and the robbery of the passengers by 
a band of armed robbers. The Missouri bandits 
thought to create a sensation. 

In the early part of July, 1873, Frank James, Cole 
Younger, Robert Moore, a desperado from the In- 
dian Territory, Jesse James and Jim Younger, held a 
conference in Jackson county, Missouri, when a 
scheme was broached to overhaul and rob a railway 
train. The first suggestion was to rob a train on the 
Hannibal & St. Joe. railway, or some other road in the 
state of Missouri. But that was rejected after due 
dehberation. The plan of going into Iowa was sug- 
gested and met with favor. The plans were matured 
before the gang separated. About the 14th of the 
month the robbers met at the house of a friend in 
Clay county, and the final arrangements were made ; 



148 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

a place of rendezvous was appointed, and the gang 
then separated into couples. As usual, Frank and 
Jesse James took the same route ; Cole Younger and 
Bob Moore another, and Jim Younger and a Texas 
desperado who went by the name of Commanche 
Tony, followed another route. The robbers leisurely 
pursued their journ ey, and on the 20th of July they 
were near the line of the Chicago, Rock Island & 
Pacific railway, about fourteen miles east of the city 
of Council Bluffs. At the appointed place of ren- 
dezvous they all meet after dark, on the night of the 
twentieth. During that day Jesse James and Cole 
Younger made a reconno ssance, and selected the ex- 
act spot to carry out the enterprise in which they 
were engaged. It was agreed that they would 
"throw" the morning train bound east from Council 
Bluffs, as it was supposed to carry a large amount of 
specie en route east from the Pacific slope. The 
robbers didn't care much for silver, but they were 
willing to accept all the gold bricks that might fall 
into their hands. The place selected was about three 
miles from the rendezvous, in the edge of a belt of 
timber, and where the road bed was in an excavation 
about four feet deep. The train was due at that 
point about three o'clock in the morning. 

With deliberate purpose the robbers took their 
station in the underbrush near the track. Several 
cross ties were placed in a position to be immediately 
utilized when the time came. Three or four rails 
were loosened from the ties, and in silence the band- 
it? waited for the approach of the train. 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. , I49 

In due time the train was descried by the watcher 
at the upper end of the curve — the road was very 
straight for a long distance to the west of the place 
selected. At that point there is a rather sharp curve 
and an obstruction placed on the track could not be 
seen by the engineer until he was within sixty yards 
of it. As soon as the train was seen coming down 
the long straight track, the robbers suddenly awoke 
into Hfe and activity. The loosened rails were thrown 
apart, and half a dozen cross ties were thrown across 
the tracks just above. 

The engineer saw the danger when too late. He 
reversed his engine, but the momentum was too 
great. The ponderous locomotive plunged on, 
struck the*t)bstruction, and careened on the side of 
the track. The shock was terrific. The engineer 
was killed and the fireman seriously injured. But 
the train stood still. The aroused passengers had no 
time to inquire the cause of the sudden stoppage. 
They knew full soon. The presence of armed men 
— strange, weird, desperate — appearing on the plat- 
forms of the coaches informed them concerning the 
situation. The train passed into the hands of band- 
its. The passengers were ordered in a peremptory 
manner to keep still. The command was accompa- 
nied by dreadful threats of instant annihilation on 
the least evidence of disobedience. Surprised and 
unnerved by the suddenness of the attack, the pas- 
sengers obeyed. Then three of the band proceeded 
through the train and commanded the passengers tQ 



150 LIFE AND ADVENTURES 0? 

surrender up their money and their jewelry. They 
made a searching examination of each person in the 
cars. It is understood that several thousand dollars 
were obtained in this way. The express and mail car 
were searched and rifled. The spoils of the examin- 
ation were put into a sack, and the robbers sought 
their horses, and mounting, speedily galloped away. 

Of course the intelligence of such an occurrence 
was telegraphed far and wide. A most determined 
pursuit of the robbers was at once organized and set 
on foot. The sheriff of the county in which the 
robbery was committed summoned a large posse of 
men and started in pursuit. His theory was that 
they were Missouri outlaws. He got on the trail of the 
robbers, and tracked them through western Missouri 
as far as St. Clair county. Here he lost their trail, 
and efforts to find the outlaws proved unavailing. 
The sheriff finally gave up the chase and returned 
home. 

It is proper to add that friends of Cole Younger 
denied that he could possibly have had anything to 
do with this robbery. They assert that he was at the 
Monegaw hotel, St. Clair, on Sunday morning, the 
20th of July, and therefore could not have been in 
Iowa the next morning. But there is no doubt that 
the Youngers — at least Bob and Jim — were present 
with the Jameses on that occasion. At any rate, 
the bandits escaped with their booty. 



CHAPTER XXIll. 

THE gains' place STAGE ROBBERY. 

" Their cruel bandits you would climb 

The rungs of the world ! oh, curse sublime 
With tears and laughters for all time." 

They used to say that the James Boys and the 
Younger Brothers might kill men who attempted to 
impose upon them, but they would not rob or steal. 
Those who rob men of life must be the greatest 
criminals, and the lesser crimes are included in the 
greater. The career they had chosen required the 
service which money alone can render. These men 
had need for money which their legitimate resources 
were inadequate to supply. Those who have taken 
many lives will not hesitate long to take a few dollars 
when their necessities require it. Such are the laws 
which govern human actions. 

Long before many of the very respectable citizens 
of Clay, Clinton and Jackson counties believed it, the 
sons of the excellent minister whom they had 
known were the most unscrupulous and daring high- 
waymen who had ever followed the r^ads on this 
continent. The Jameses early became the most 
dangerous outlaws of which history gives us any ac- 
count. They were bold, but cautious; skilled in the 
school of cunning ; trained in the art of killing ; 

151 



I5i LiFJE AND ADVENTURES OF 

shrewd in planning, and swift in the execution of 
their designs. 

They seldom attempted a robbery except in out- 
of-the-way places where the presence of robbers 
was not expected. Nor did they ever attempt rob- 
beries a second time at the same place. Their plan 
was to strike unexpected blows. This week they 
would rob a train at Gad's Hill, next week at Mun- 
cie, Kansas ; again, they would arrest a stage on the 
Malvern and Hot Springs road, and then again they 
would flag a train at Big Springs, Wyoming Terri- 
tory, a thousand miles from the scene of their last 
exploit. 

It was a gray, raw day in January, 1874, when the 
regular stage running from Malvern, on the St. 
Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway, to Hot 
Springs, pulled out from the little town. Two am- 
bulances for the accommodation of the afflicted 
pilgrims bound for that Mecca of relief, 
accompanied the stage on the road. This 
cavalcade had reached the romantic vale of the 
Golpha, near the old Gains' mansion. This is a 
narrow dell, shut in by abrupt hills, clad with a 
dense forest of pine and tangled underbrush and 
evergreen vines. At this particular place the valley 
widens, and there is a beautiful farm and lovely 
grounds bordering the roadside on the east and north 
side of the stream. West and south the deep, tan- 
gled forest crowns the hills, which rise to a great 
height. Here is a favorite halting place for travel- 



^ i^RANK AND jESSE JAMES. 1 53 

ers along that way. The clear waters of the Golpha 
afford refreshing draughts to the wearied teams. 

We have said it was a gray, raw morning in Janu- 
ary. The long drive from Malvern over the stony 
roads inclined the passengers, as well as the horses, 
to rest. That particular Thursday morning the 
drivers had stopped, as usual, directly opposite the 
Gains residence, which is about two hundred yards 
from the road, toward the northeast. The spot is 
about five miles southeast from Hot Springs. A 
little beyond the stopping place the road crosses the 
stream at a ford. Beyond the creek the country is 
very rugged, and covered with forest trees. And in 
those trees a band of robbers were crouched, waiting 
the approach of the stage and ambulances. The un- 
suspecting pilgrims were soon moving on, inwardly 
congratulating themselves on the near termination of 
their fatiguing journey. 

The stage and ambulances had proceeded well 
into the wood on the Hot Springs side of the Gol- 
pha, perhaps half a mile from ** the watering place," 
when a strong, emphatic voice called out from the 
borders of the brush : " Stop ! d — n you, or 
rU blow your head off!" Thus commanded, of 
course the driver of the stage brought his team to a 
standstill. The passengers naturally threw aside the 
flaps of the vehicles and thrust out their heads to 
ascertain what the strange proceedings meant. They 
saw at once. Cocked revolvers yawned before them, 
and stern, harsh voices exclaimed in chorus, ** D — n 



1 54 ''^iFE AND ADVfeNtUR£S OP 

you, tumble out ! " " Certainly, under the circum- 
stances, we will do so with alacrity," replied one of 
the passengers, a Mr. Charles Moore. " Raise your 

hands, you d — d ." Of course every passenger 

promptly obeyed the order. One passenger, a rheu- 
matic invalid, alone, was left undisturbed. Then the 
leader cried out : 

" Come ! be quick, form a circle here! " 

The order was obeyed. Then two of the robbers, 
one of whom was armed with a double-barrel shot- 
gun and the other with a navy repeater, mounted 
guard over the prisoners, and made many sinister re- 
marks, doubtless intended to be jocose, but which 
kept the prisoners in a tremor of apprehension all 
the while. 

Then two of the brigands proceeded to examine 
the effects and pockets of the passengers. 

When the affable gentlemen of the road had com- 
pleted their undertaking, they proceeded in the cool- 
est manner imaginable to cast up their accounts. 
They had lost in cash — nothing ; in jewelry — naught ; 
in conscience — well, it happened they didn't have 
any to lose. They had gained from sundry passen- 
gers as follows : 

Ex-Gov. Burbank, of Dakotah, cash, - - $ 850 00 

" ** ** " diamond pin, - 350 00 

" " " *• gold watch, - - 250 00 

Passenger from Syracuse, N. Y., - - - - 16000 

"William Taylor, Esq., Lowell, Mass., - - 650 00 

John Dietrich, Esq., Little Rock, Ark., - - - 200 00 

Charles Moore, Esq., " ** - - 70 00 



Frank and jesse james. 155 

E. A. Peebles, Hot Springs, - - • - 20 oo 

Three country farmers, - - • - 45 00 

Southern Express Company, .... ^cq qq 

Geo. R. Crump, Memphis, Tenn., • - - 45 00 

Total, - - - - $3,090 00 

It was a very good morning's work, and the ban- 
dits were so well pleased that they were inclined to 
indulge in a sort of grim facetiousness. One of them 
unharnessed the best stage horse, saddled him and 
mounted him, and after trying his gait by riding up 
and down the road a (qw times, called out: 

" Boys, I reckon he'll do I " 

Another one of the band went to each passenger 
as he stood in the circle. John Dietrich was the 
first to pass through the ordeal of cross-examination. 

" Where are you from ? " 

" Little Rock," replied Dietrich. 

" Ah, ha ! " 

*' Yes, have a boot and shoe store there," remarked 
Dietrich. 

" You'd better be there attending to it," was the 
observation of the chief of the bandits. 

*' Are there any Southern men here ? " 

" I am," replied Mr. Crump and three others. 

"Any who served in the army?" 

" I did," said Crump. 

The leader then asked him what regiment he be- 
longed to, and what part of the country he had 
served in. The answers were satisfactory, and then 
the robber handed Crump his watch and money, re- 
marking as he did so ; 



156 LlF£ AND ADVENTURES OP 

" Well, you look like an honest fellow. I guess 
you're all right. We don't want to rob Confederate 
soldiers. But the d — d Yankees have driven us all 
into outlawry, and we will make them pay for it yet." 

Mr. Taylor, of Lowell, Mass., was examined. 

" Where are you from ? '* 

" St. Louis." 

** Yes, and d — n your soul, you are a reporter for 
the St. Louis Democrat, the vilest sheet in the land. 
Go to Hot Springs and send the dirty concern a tel- 
egram about this affair, and give them my compli- 
ments, will you ? " 

Then Governor Burbank felt encouraged to ask a 
favor of them. 

" Will you please return me my papers?" asked 
the Governor. "They are valuable to me, but I am 
sure you can make no use of them.** 

** We'll see," said the leader, sententiously, and 
took the packet and kneeled down to examine them. 

In a few moments he took up a paper with an offi- 
cial seal, that excited his ire, and before he paused 
to examine it sufficiently to enable him to determine 
its character, he reached the conclusion that the 
bearer was a detective, a class which he held in the 
utmost hatred. 

" Boys, I believe he*s a detective — shoot him, at 
once 1 " was the sententious command. In an in- 
stant Governor Burbank was covered by three ready 
cocked dragoon pistols. The ex-Governor was on 
the border of time. 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 1 57 

" Stop ! " cried the robber, " I reckon it's all right. 
Here, take your papers." 

And the ex-Governor felt that a mighty load had 
suddenly been lifted from him, and that a dark 
cloud, which but a moment before had enshrouded 
the world in the deepest gloom of midnight, had 
drifted away, allowing the bright sun to shine out on 
the scenes of time. 

The passenger from Syracuse asked for the return 
of $S, to enable him to telegraph home for assist- 
ance. 

The chief looked at him rather sternly for a few 
moments, and said: 

" So, you have no friends nor money. You had 
better go and die. Your death would be no loss to 
yourself or the country. You'll get nothing back, at 
any rate." 

All this while one of the robbers, said to have been 
James Younger, held a double-barrel shot-gun cocked 
in his hand, which he pointed ever and anon at Mr. 
Taylor, the supposed Democrat reporter, making such 
cheerful remarks as these : "Boys, I'll bet a hundred 
dollar bill I can shoot his hat off his head and not touch 
a hair on it." And the others would respond with a 
banter of a very uncomfortable character, while the 
facetious bandit went on : " Now, wouldn't that but- 
ton on his coat make a good mark. I'll bet a dollar 
I can cl?p it off and not cut the coat! " With such 
grim jests did he amuse himself and torment the 
captive, 



158 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

Having thoroughly accomplished their work, the 
bandits made the drivers hitch up their teams and 
drive away. The whole transaction was completed 
in less than ten minutes. The robbers did not 
linger. In a few minutes they scattered through the 
brush. Some "struck out," as they expressed it, 
for the Nation, another for Texas, and one for 
Louisiana. 

Of course, denials of complicity on the part of 
the Jameses in this affair were at once entered by 
their friends. But it has since been ascertained that 
the party who did the deed consisted of Frank and 
Jesse James, Coleman and James Younger, and Clell 
Miller, one of the associates of the daring outlaws. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

GADSHILL. 

During the morning of January 31, at the hour of 
9:30 o'clock, the St. Louis and Texas express train, 
with a goodly number of passengers, and the mails 
and valuable express freight, departed from the 
Plum street depot m St. Louis, bound for Texas, via 
the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern railroad. 
Mr. C. A. Alford was the conductor in charge of the 
train when it departed, and when the event which 
we are about to describe occurred. 

Gadshill, a name rich in historical associations, is 
a lonely wayside station on the road, situated in the 
northeast corner of Wayne county, Missouri, about 
seven miles from Piedmont, which is the nearest tel- 
egraph station. 

The 31st of January, 1874, was a dreary, winter 
day. The cold gray clouds veiled the sky, and no 
ray of sunlight filtered through the wintry pall. 

The day wore away, wearily enough, with the pas- 
sengers on Mr. Alford's train. They had not yet 
been together a sufficient length of time to assimi- 
late, and each one was left to his, or her, own device 
for amusement or entertainment. Slowly the hours 
passed away. The landscape was cold, dreary and 
forbidding ; the winds came blowing from the north 
^9 



l60 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

with a chill in their breath that made the passengers 
think longingly of " sweet home." Iron Mountain, 
and Pilot Knob, and Shepherd's Mountain, and the 
beautiful valley of Arcadia, in their winter dress, 
wore anything but a pleasing aspect. In fact, it was 
a comfortless sort of day, which made the passen- 
gers feel anything but merry. 

Nightfall was approaching. Already the thick at- 
mosphere was becoming sombre in hue, and it was 
evident the curtains of darkness were falling over 
the earth. 

By this time it was about 5:30 o'clock in the after- 
noon. The train was approaching the little sta- 
tion dignified by th^ name of Gadshill, in honor of 
the locality where Sir John Falstaff so valiantly met 
the Buckramite host, an event graphically delineated 
by the historian and poet of all climes and times. 
As the train drew near, the engineer saw the red flag 
displayed, and whistled " down brakes." 

Before proceeding to relate what happened to the 
train and the passengers on it, we shall state what 
had happened at Gadshill before the train came. 

About half-past three o'clock that afternoon, a 
party of seven men, splendidly mounted and armed 
to the teeth, rode to the station, secured the agent, 
then took in a blacksmith, and afterwards all the cit- 
izens and two or three countrymen, and one lad, 
who were waiting for the arrival of the train. Among 
the persons so detained was the son of Dr. Rock, at 
that time Representative in the Legislature froni 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. l6l 

Wayne county. The captives were taken to the 
Httle station-house and confined there, under the 
surveillance of one of the armed robbers. Then the 
bandits set about completing their arrangements for 
executing the work which they had come to perform. 
The signal flag was displayed on the track and the 
lower end of the switch was opened, so that the 
train would be ditched if it attempted to pass. Then 
the bandits waited 'for their prey. 

In due time the train came dashing down the 
road. The engineer saw the flag and gave the sig- 
nal for stopping. Mr. Alford, the conductor, was 
ready to step upon the little platform as soon as the 
train came alongside. The robbers did not show 
themselves until the cars were at the station. No 
sooner had the train come to a full halt than Mr. Al- 
ford stepped off to the platform. He was instantly 
confronted by the muzzle of a pistol and greeted with 
the salutation : 

" Give me your money and your watch, d — n your 
soul ! quick !" 

Mr. Alford had no alternative. He gave up his 
pocket-book containing fifty dollars in money, and an 
elegant gold watch. 

*' Get in there !" they commanded, and Mr. Alford 
obeyed. 

While this was going on, one of the brigands had 
covered the engineer with a revolver, and compelled 
him to leave his cab. Meanwhile, part of the band 
occupied the platforms ^t the ends of the passenger 

10 



l62 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

coaches, while two of them went through the train 
with a revolver in one hand and commanded the 
passengers to give up their money. Of course the 
defenseless travellers yielded their change to the 
uttermost farthing into the hands of the robbers. 

Mr. John H. Morley, chief engineer of the St. 
Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad, was 
among the passengers, and was plundered along with 
the rest of them. The robbers made a clean sweep, 
taking money, watches and jewelry from all. Among 
the passengers robbed, were Silas Ferry, C. D. 
Henry, Geo. G. Dent, Mr. Scott, Sr., Mr. Scott, Jr., 
Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Meriam, O. S. Newell and A. Mc- 
Lain. After having effectually stripped the passen- 
gers of worldly wealth, the robbers proceeded to the 
express car, broke open the safe, and secured the 
contents. The mail bags were next cut open and 
their contents rifled of everything of value. The 
whole amount of money secured by the robbers was 
somewhere between eight and ten thousand dollars. 
After completing their work the bandits went to Mr. 
Alford and remarked that as he was conductor he 
needed a watch, and they gave him back his time- 
keeper. 

When they had satisfied themselves that there was 
no more plunder to be gained, they released the con- 
ductor and engineer, and told them to draw out at 
once. 

As the robbers, whose part of the business it was 
to relieve the passengers of their spare cash, passed 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 163 

through the cars, they asked each one of the gentle- 
men passengers his name. One of the victims, a Mr. 
Newell, asked the brigands, 

" What do you want to know that for?" 

*'D — n you, out with your name, and ask questions 
afterward !" was the profane reply. 

'* Well, my name is Newell, and here's my money, 
and now I want to know why you ask me for my 
name?" said Mr. Newell, with an attempt at pleas- 
antry, fortified by a sort of grim smile.' 

" You seem to be a sort of jolly coon, anyhow," 
said the robber, "and I'll gratify you. That 
old scoundrel, Pinkerton, is on this train, or was to 
have been on it, and we want to get him, so that we 
can cut out his heart and roast it." 

During the time they were in the cars among the 
passengers, they mentioned the name of Pinkerton 
many times, and exhibited the most intense hatred 
of the distinguished detective. It was very fortunate 
for Mr. Allan Pinkerton that he was not a passenger 
on the train that lumbered up to the dreary station 
of Gadshill that winter day. 

This circumstance is confirmatory of the evidence 
that Jesse and Frank James were leaders in the 
Gadshill affair. They, for years, have cherished the 
most bitter animosity toward the detective, and the 
very mention of his name was sufficient to render 
them almost frantic with rage. 

The citizens were released, and the robbers 
mounted their horses and rode away in the gathering 
dark'-U'ss, over the forest-crowned hills to the west. 



164 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

Some of the features of this bold robbery were 
ludicrous in the extreme. The trepidation of the 
passengers made the iob a quick one, because they 
were ready on demand to give up everything to the 
freebooters. One passenger complained at the 
hardship, and the following dialogue ensued : 

" Give me your money, watch and jewelry, you 
blamed cur! quick!" 

" Now, please, I — " 

** Dry up, d — n you, and shell out !" And the 
robber thrust a pistol against his temple. 

" Oh, yes ! Excuse m-m-me, p-p-p-please, d-don*t 
shoot. Here's a-all I've g-got in t-t-the world." And 
the poor fellow, all tremblingly, handed up his 
wealth. 

"I'm a good mind to shoot you, anyhow," re- 
marked the robber, ** for being so white livered." 

At this the alarmed traveller crouched down behind 
a seat. 

It was nightfall when the robbers rode away. 
Gadshill is in the midst of a wilderness country. 
There are but few settlements among the hills, and 
it was impossible to organize an effective posse at 
once for pursuit. At Piedmont, on the arrival of the 
train, the news was telegraphed to St. Louis and Lit- 
tle Rock. The citizens of that vicinity were aroused, 
and before midnight a well armed posse of a dozen 
men were riding over the hills westward in pursuit. 

But the robbers, who were all mounted on blooded 
horses, rode swiftly away. Before the dawn of day 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 165 

they were sixty miles from the scene of the crime. 
They called at the residence of a widow lady named 
Cook, one mile above Carpentersville, on the Current 
river, to obtain a breakfast. There were but five of 
them in the party, and these were each armed with 
a pair of pistols and a repeating rifle. They contin- 
ued on, and passed Mr. Payne's on the Big Piney, in 
Texas county, and went to the house of the Hon. 
Mr. Mason, then a member of the State Legislature, 
and who was at that time absent attending its session, 
and demanded food and lodging from Mrs. Mason. 
They remained there all night, and proceeded west- 
ward in the morning. The same day that the five 
men took breakfast with Mrs. Cook, a dozen pursuers 
from Gadshill and Piedmont arrived at the same 
place, having tracked them sixty miles. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



AFTER GADS H I LL. 



The bold act of brigandage at Gadshill aroused 
the whole country. The outlaws had become for- 
midable. Missouri and Arkansas were alike inter- 
ested, and the citizens of both states were ready to 
make personal sacrifices to aid in the capture of such 
daring brigands. But who were the robbers? A 
question not easy to answer with any assurance of 
correctness. Some said at once that it was the 
Jameses and the Youngers and their associates. 
Geo. W. Shepherd, one of Quantrell's most daring 
Guerrillas in Missouri, and one of those who separ- 
ated from him when he went to Kentucky, was an 
intimate friend of the Jameses in the old Guerrilla 
times. After the war Shepherd emigrated to Ken- 
tucky and married at Chaplin, Nelson county, where 
he settled down. After Russellville, circumstances 
pointed to him as one of the persons implicated in 
the robbery. He was arrested, carried to Logan 
county and tried. The proof was of such a charac- 
ter that he was found guilty of aiding and abetting 
the robbers, and was sentenced to the penitentiary 
for a term of three years. At the expiration of his 
sentence he returned to Chaplin and learned that 

during his incarceration his wife had obtained a di- 

i66 



t?RANK AND JESSE JAMES. 167 

vorce and married another man. Shepherd had paid 
^600 on the house and lot which he found his ex-wife 
and husband occupying. But he left them there and 
took his departure from Kentucky. At the time of 
the Gadshill affair he was somewhere in Missouri, 
But there is not a particle of evidence to connect 
him with the robbery. 

Bradley Collins was a noted desperado in those 
days, who figured in Texas and the Indian Territory 
as one of the worst outlaws in the business. He also 
rode at times with the Jameses and the Youngers. 
John Chunk was another daring outlaw who infested 
Texas and the Indian Territory, and often came into 
Missouri and co-operated with the brigands of that 
state. 

Sid Wallace, afterwards hanged at Clarksville, 
Arkansas, was another noted outlaw between the 
years 1 866 and 1 874. He, too, was a " friend " of the 
Jameses. Cal Carter, Jim Reed, John Wes. Hardin, 
Sam Bass, Bill Longley, Tom Taylor and Jim Clark, 
ail notorious in Texas and the Nation, often joined 
the Missouri outlaws and hunted with them. Indeed, 
it appears that there was a regularly organized band 
of brigands ramifying through the states of Missouri, 
Kansas, Colorado, Arkansas, the Indian Territory 
and Texas. This banditti was composed of the most 
desperate and daring men who had ever placed 
themselves beyond the pale of the law in this 
country. 

Whatever doubts might once have existed con- 



l68 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OP 

cerning the personality of the bandits of Gadshill, 
they have all vanished in the light of subsequent 
events. Jesse and Frank James, some of the Young- 
ers and their associates, were undoubtedly the men 
who rode to Gadshill. The fellows seemed to have 
had a bit of classical humor in their composition in 
selecting a place so named as the scene of such an 
exploit. 

It seemed to have created a conviction in the minds 
of those in authority, also, that the Jameses were the 
leaders. Governor Woodson, of Missouri, offered a 
reward to the full extent of the law's provisions. 
Governor Baxter, of Arkansas, communicated to 
Governor Woodson his desire to aid in the capture 
of the outlaws, and also offered a reward. The ex- 
press company offered a heavy reward for the cap- 
ture of the bandits, and the United States authorities 
took an active interest in the movement set on foot 
to break up the formidable banditti. Stimulated by 
the prospect of gain, the detectives all over the 
country became active in the pursuit. The citizens, 
too, were on the move, and it seemed that the augu- 
ries all pointed to a speedy annihilation of this for- 
midable gang which infested the West. 

Meanwhile another outrage was committed almost 
on the line of retreat from Gadshill, which still 
further agitated the public mind. 

During the afternoon of the nth of February, 
1874, five men, splendidly mounted and well armed, 
rode into the town of Bentonville, Benton county, 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 169 

Arkansas. Their entrance was quiet. They rode 
to the store of Craig & Son ; dismounted and entered 
the store ; made prisoners of the proprietors and 
clerks at the muzzle of pistols, and proceeded to rifle 
the cash box. Fortunately for the firm of Craig & 
Son, they had made a deposit that day and the rob- 
bers only obtained about one hundred and fifty dol- 
lars in money. They helped themselves to about 
one hundred dollars' worth of goods ; warned the 
proprietors and clerks not to give the alarm until 
they had passed out of town; went out; mounted 
their horses and rode away in the most nonchalant 
manner. In a saloon adjacent, there were more than 
twenty men who were uninformed as to what was 
taking place in the store of Messrs. Craig & Son, un- 
til after the robbers had departed. Pursuit was made, 
but the bandits escaped. 

The weeks following the Gadshill outrage were 
busy ones with the detectives. A carefully planned 
campaign against the marauders was at once insti- 
tuted and prosecuted with great vigor. Allan Pin- 
kerton, the American Vidocq, was employed by the 
express company to hunt the robbers down. The 
United States Government ordered the Secret Ser- 
vice force into the field, and the police and constabu- 
lary forces of Missouri and Arkansas, under orders 
from the Governors of the respective states, were act- 
ing in concert with the forces of detectives called 
into service by the General Government and the ex- 
press company. 



1/6 LIFE AND ADVENTQRES OF 

The brigands were successfully tracked through 
the wilds of southern Missouri, and their trail led 
into the hill country of St. Clair county, and across 
Jackson county on beyond the Missouri river. No 
doubt was left upon the minds of the man-hunters as 
to the personalty of the Gadshill robbers. The 
James Boys and some of the Youngers were cer- 
tainly engaged in it. The Youngers, at least John 
and Jim, had returned to Roscoe, St. Clair county, 
" flush with cash." The detectives were on their 
tracks. To the force was added Ed. B. Daniels, a 
courageous young man of Osceola, who was thor- 
oughly acquainted with the country. The detective 
force in St. Clair county was under the direction of 
one of Allan Pinkerton's picked men. Captain W. 
J. Allen, whose real name was Lull. With him was 
a St. Louis "fly cop," well known, and distinguished 
for his shrewdness and daring, who for the time had 
assumed the name of Wright. Daniels was ex- 
tremely serviceable as a guide. 

One morning, when near the residence of Theo- 
doric Snuffer, a short distance from Roscoe, these 
three men were suddenly surprised by John and 
James Younger, who rode up behind them in the 
road. They were at Snuffer's house, and saw the 
detectives pass, and started out with the avowed pur- 
pose of capturing them. Approaching the three 
men in the rear, they raised their double-barrel shot- 
guns, and with an oath commanded them to hold up 
their hands and drop their pistols. Taken thus, at a 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. if\ 

disadvantage, the detectives complied, and dropped 
their belts of pistols in the road. James Younger 
dismounted to secure them, while John remained on 
horseback with a double-barrel gun covering them. 
For a moment he lowered his gun. That moment 
was fatal. Captain Lull drew a concealed Smith & 
Wesson revolver from his bosom, and fired. The 
ball took effect in John Younger's neck, severing the 
left j'ugular vein. In the very agonies of death, as 
he fell from his horse to die, John Younger raised a 
pistol and fired, the ball taking effect in the left arm 
and side of Captain Lull. Two more shots were 
fired, probably by James Younger, before Allen, or 
rather Lull, fell. James Younger then commenced 
firing at Ed. B. Daniels. That gentleman also had a 
concealed pistol, returned the fire and inflicted a 
slight flesh wound on the person of James Younger. 
But his fate was sealed. A fatal bullet crashed 
through the left side of the neck, and Daniels fell, 
and soon afterward expired. This tragedy excited 
and alarmed the whole country. It was no longer 
possible for James Younger to remain in the coun- 
try. He took the pistols which his dead brother, 
John, had worn, and departed for the house of a 
friend in Boone county, Arkansas, where he was 
soon joined by Cole and Bob. 

Wright, who was riding a short distance in advance 
of Captain Lull and Ed. Daniels, hearing the sum- 
mons of the Younger Brothers, turned, and at a 
glance saw the situation, and, putting spurs to his 



tf^ LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

horse, dashed away. Although he was fired upon 
and pursued a short distance by James Younger, he 
managed to escape unharmed, aided as he was by a 
very fleet horse. 

The hunters for the Jameses met with no better 
luck. One of the darkest tragedies which ever dis- 
graced the state of Missouri followed the efforts of 
the detectives to capture the shrewdest and most 
daring outlaws who have yet appeared in this coun- 
try. There is an air of mystery about this terrible 
episode which makes it all the more thrilling. The 
full details of this crime are reserved for another 
chapter. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 
whicher's ride to death. 

The James Boys were believed to have been the 
projectors and leaders of the Gadshill enterprise. 
Soon after that event they returned to Clay county. 
Traces of their trail through Southern Missouri were 
soon discovered. The description given of two of 
the five travellers who took breakfast at Mrs. Cook's 
on Current river, and lodged at Mr. Mason's house 
in Texas county, answered well for Frank and Jesse 
James. The detectives caught at every clue. The 
James Boys were at Gadshill beyond a doubt. And 
so the brigand hunters passed into Clay county. 

Meanwhile the James Boys and other members of 
the gang were resting in the vicinity of Kearney, in 
Clay county, at the residence of Dr. Samuels. 
Among those known to have been there were Jim 
Cummings and Clell Miller, Jim Anderson, a brother 
of Bill Anderson, of Centralia notoriety, and Bradley 
Collins, a Texas desperado. The sheriff of Clay 
county thought Arthur McCoy was probably at that 
time with the Jameses. On the 9th day of March, 
Jesse James spent a portion of the day in Kearney. 
The gang had several horses shod a few days before 
at a country blacksmith shop in that vicinity. 

Wednesd.iy, March lO, 1874, arrived at Liberty, 

m 



1/4 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

the county seat of Clay county, Missouri, J. W. 
Whicher, from what place it mattered not to the cit- 
izens of Liberty. This man was in the very vigor of 
a matured manhood. He was just twenty-six years 
of age, lately married to an estimable and accom- 
plished young lady, a resident of Iowa City. 

Whicher was intelligent, shrewd and daring. He 
was selected by his chief, Allan Pinkerton, who is 
acknowledged as a consummate judge of human 
nature, as the fittest instrument to execute the most 
dangerous enterprise which he had ever yet under- 
taken. 

Immediately on arriving at Liberty, Whicher 
called at the Commercial Savings Bank to see Mr. 
Adkins, its president. To him he made known his 
errand into that section. At the same time he de- 
posited in the bank some money and papers. Mr. 
Adkins was not able to give Whicher all the infor- 
mation which he desired, and sent him to Col. O. P. 
Moss, ex-sheriff of Clay county, for further informa- 
tion. 

When he opened his plans to Moss, that gentle- 
man advised him not to go. He gave him a terrible 
account of the prowess of the desperadoes ; told 
him of their shrewdness and of their merciless na- 
ture when excited by the presence of an enemy, 
and warned him that he need not hope to secure 
such wary men by stratagem. Col. Moss was earn- 
est in his efforts to dissua4e Whicher from making 
the rash attempt, 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. I75 

But it was of no avail. Whichcr had received 
what he regarded as positive evidence that the 
Jameses were the leaders of the Gadshill bandits, 
and, further, that they were now at home, near Kear- 
ney. Stimulated by the hope of "catching his 
game," and securing the large rewards, Whicher, 
who seems to have been destitute of any sense of 
fear, made his arrangements to go that very evening 
to the Jameses' place of retreat. Disguised in the 
garb of a farm laborer, with an old carpet bag swung 
on a stick, Whicher took the evening train for Kear- 
ney, and there made inquiries for work on a farm. He 
did not tarry long at the station, but soon started out 
toward the Samuels place. 

Poor Whicher ! he little thought that his fate was 
already determined upon by those whose destiny he 
was seeking to determine. But so it was. 

There was a friend of the Jameses in Liberty that 
day — a fellow named Jim Latche, who had been ex- 
pelled from Texas on account of his worthless qual- 
ities as a citizen and dangerous attributes as a crim- 
inal. Latche had met the James Boys, and had 
made a raid with them, on one occasion, down in 
Texas. He had been resting at their retreat for a 
few days, and was probably on a scout for them that 
day. At any rate, he was in Liberty when Whicher 
arrived. He observed his movements, because 
Whicher was a stranger ; saw him go to the bank 
and make a deposit ; waited while he conferred with 
Mr. Adkins, and then tracked him to CoJ. Moss' 



176 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

office. He came to the conclusion that Whicher 
was a detective; and when afterward he saw that 
the detective had changed his clothes, he was con- 
vinced that he was right. Latche hastened away to 
give a report of what he had heard and observed. 

When Whicher arrived at Kv^arney the Jameses 
knew of it, and suspected the truth concerning his 
mission. It was in the evening. Jim Anderson, 
Jesse James and Bradley Collins were in waiting on 
the roadside, about half a mile from the Samuels 
residence. Soon after Whicher came along. lie 
was carrying a carpet-sack. Jesse James came out 
of their concealment alone, and met Wiiicher in the 
road. 

" Good evening, sir," said Whicher. 

*' Where in h — 11 are you going ? " responded the 
other. 

" Well, it's a rude response, but I will not answer 
as rudely again. I am seeking work. Can you tell 
me where I can get some work on a farm ? " 

"No, not much, you don't want any, either, you 
d — d thief. Old Pinkerton has already given you a 
job that will last you as long as you live, I reckon." 

And Jesse laughed a cold, hard laugh that meant 
death. Of course Whicher was helpless, for the 
other had him under cover of a pistol from the mo- 
ment he came in sight. But Whicher was dauntless 
and wary, and, without exhibiting the least trepida- 
tion, he said : 

^* Who do you take me to be ? Wh^t have I to do 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. I// 

with Pinkerton or his business? I am a stranger in 
the country and want something to do. I don't see 
why you should keep that pistol pointed at me. I 
don't know you, and have never done you any 
wrong." 

"Oh, d — n it, you are the kind of a dog that 
sneaks up and bites, are you ? You will carry in the 
James Boys, will you? You are a nice sneakiag cur, 
ain't you ? Want work, do you ? What say you, my 
sneak ? Eh ? " 

The tantalizing manner of Jesse James did not 
disconcert the detective. He answered these taunts 
with perfect coolness : 

" I don't understand you, sir. I am no cur, and 
know nothing of the James Boys. I addressed you 
politely, and you did not return the same. I said I 
wanted some employment, and you taunt me for it. 
I must bid you good evening." 

With this, Whicher made a step forward. His 
progress was arrested by the harsh voice of Jesse 
James. 

" You shall die if you move out of your tracks 1 
Keep up your hands !" 

Whicher realized by this time that his chance of 
escape was small, for he knew that Jesse James stood 
before him, and he had quickly made up his mind 
that he would sell his life dearly. He was cool, act- 
ive and expert with the pistol ; his right hand was 
almost involuntarily seek- ng to grasp his weapon. 
But Jesse James evidently had him at a great disad- 

II 



1/8 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

vantage. Instantly realizing this, he changed his 
purpose. 

" Well, this is a singular adventure, I declare. 
Now, why you should make such a mistake concern- 
ing me is more than I can imagine. You are surely 
making sport of me. Itell you I know nothing of 
the persons of whom you speak, and why should 
you interrupt me ? Let me go on, for I must find a 
place to stop to-night, anyhow." 

Jesse James laughed outright. " What," said he, 
** were you doing at Liberty to-day ? Why did you 
deposit money in the bank ? What business did you 
have with Adkins and Moss? Where are the clothes 
you wore ? Plotting to capture the James Boys, eh ? " 
and Jesse laughed aloud, and Jim Anderson and 
Fox, another confederate of the Boys, came from 
their concealment, with pistols in hand. Poor 
Whicher saw this, and for the first time he fully real- 
ized the helplessness of his position. 

** Betrayed," he thought, almost said. 

Jesse James said, in a cold, dry tone : " Young 
man, we want to hear no more from you. We know 
you. Move but a finger and you die now. Boys," 
he said, addressing Anderson and Fox, " I don't 
think it best to do the job here. It wouldn't take 
long, but for certain reasons I don't think this is the 
place. Shall we cross the river to-night? " The oth- 
ers answered they would, ;if it was his pleasure. 

All this time Whicher had stood still ; not a mus- 
cle moved, and not a single wave of pallor had cov- 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 179 

ered his features. He knew what they meant by 
"the job," and made up his mind to improve any in- 
cident, however slight, to have revenge on his mur- 
derers. 

But there were no favorable incidents for him. He 
had been tried and condemned in a court from 
which he could not appeal. At what time the sen- 
tence would be executed he could not tell. 

*'Boys, relieve him of his burden and weapons," 
said Jesse James. 

Quick as thought, Whicher's hand was thrust into 
the bosom of his coat. It was too late. Fox and 
Anderson sprang upon him, while Jesse James placed 
the muzzle of his pistol against his temple. To 
struggle was useless. He was compelled to yield, 
for just then Brad ColUns and Jim Latche joined 
the others. The case of the detective was hopeless. 
In an instant they had disarmed him ; he had brought 
only one. Smith & Wesson pistol. Then the desper- 
adoes felt of his hands, and laughed at his preten- 
sions as a farm-laborer. 

Confident in the belief that he had been betrayed 
by one of the two gentlemen to whom he had ap- 
pHed at Liberty, Whicher made up his mind that he 
would make no whining petition to the murderers. 
If he had known the exact state of the case he 
would not have gone to Kearney, and if he had gone 
he would have been better prepared to encounter the 
Boys. But fate had ordained it otherwise, and an- 
other victim to the long, long catalogue of names 




Whicher Meets His Fate. 



|8q 



JFRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 18 1 

which Jesse James had written in blood was the out- 
come of it all. 

Darkness had fallen upon the fair scenes of nature 
while these things were happening. The cool March 
winds whistled dismally through the yet naked forest 
trees. The stars came out and looked coldly from 
the empyrean, but there was purity in their beams, 
and no blood marks on their twinkling discs. It was 
meet that the tragedy which was about to take place 
should be enacted in the hours of gloomy night, and 
at a time when all without was comfortless and 
dreary. 

Whicher was bound securely, and a gag was 
placed in his mouth that he might call for no aid or 
deliverance. The desperadoes placed hi.m upon a 
horse, in the still hours of the night, and rode away. 
His legs were tied securely under the horse's belly, 
and his arms were pinioned with strong ropes. Jesse 
James, Bradley Collins and Jim Anderson were 
the executioners. In silence himself, Whicher, dur- 
ing that long, lonely ride heard the three discussing 
their bloody deeds with a thrill of horror, for they 
had told him what his fate was to be. 

About three o'clock on the morning of the nth 
of March, the drowsy ferryman at Blue Mills, on the 
Missouri river, was roused to wakefulness by the 
shouts of men on the north side, who signified their 
desire to cross over. 

" Be in a hurry," cried the belated travelers. " We 
are after horse thieves and must cross quick if we 
catch them." 



l82 LIFE ANt) ADVENTURES O? 

Thus appealed to the ferryman crossed the river 
to the northeastern shore, where the horse thief hunt- 
ers awaited him. 

When they came down to the boat, they said to 
the ferryman : 

" We have caught the thief, and if you want to 
keep your head on your shoulders you had better 
put us across the river very quick." 

So persuaded, the ferryman obeyed. They were 
soon on the south side of the river. The ferryman 
observed that one of the men was bound and gagged. 
It was poor Whicher on his way to his execution. 
The very stars shone piteously through a veil of 
mist, and the winds sighed sadly as the strange 
group moved off on the Independence road. But 
neither the helpless condition of their victim, nor the 
sad aspect of nature in the solemnity of the hours of 
darkness could evoke a spark of pity in the sered 
hearts of Whicher's executioners. 

They rode away in the darkness. Just how the 
executed their purpose only the red-handed outla 
and the merciful God knows. 

The next morning an early traveler on the roa 
from Independence to Blue Mills, about halfway be- 
tween the places, in a lonely spot, saw a ghastly 
corpse with a bullet-hole through the forehead and 
another through the heart. It was all that remained 
of Whicher. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

A NIGHT RAID OF DETECTIVES. 

After Whicher's melancholy fate, Allan Pinker- 
ton had motives aside from those of gain for pursu- 
ing to the death the celebrated border bandits, 
F^ank and Jesse James. In one year, three of the 
most courageous and trusted men in the employ of 
the distinguished detective had been sent out after 
the Missouri outlaws, and were carried back cold in 
death, after conflicts with the desperadoes. Whicher 
and Lull and Daniels were asleep in gory beds. 
And yet Frank and Jesse James, and their followers 
and allies, were free as the winds that blow, to come 
and go as interest or caprice might dictate to them. 
While this condition of affairs continued, Pinkerton 
must have felt that his reputation as a skillful en- 
trapper of criminals suffered. 

About the first of the year 1875, the great detec- 
tive commenced a campaign against the renowned 
brigands which was meant to be finally effective. 
The most elaborate and careful preparations were 
made. Nothing was left undone which could in any 
way contribute to the success of the undertaking. 
The utmost secrecy was observed in every move- 
ment. 

Several circumstances seemed to favor the de- 

183 



184 LIFE AND ADVENTURfeS OF 

tectlves. Many of the most respectable citizens of 
Clay county had grown weary of the presence in 
their midst of persons of the evil reputation of the 
Jameses, and entered with alacrity and zeal into the 
scheme inaugurated for the capture of the Boys. 
Among those of the citizens most prominent in the 
movement which had for its design the annihilation 
of the band of which Jesse James was supposed to 
be the chief leader, were several of the old neigh- 
bors and acquaintances of the James and Samuels 
families. 

With these citizens, Mr. William Pinkerton, who 
had gone from Chicago to Kansas City, to direct 
the movements of the detective forces, opened com- 
munication. A system of cipher signals was adopted, 
and communications constantly passed between the 
different persons engaged in the undertaking. The 
citizens in the neighborhood of Kearney were watch- 
ful, and keenly observed every movement in the 
vicinity of the residence of Dr. Samuels, and daily 
transmitted the results to their chief, who had estab- 
lished temporary headquarters at Kansas City. 

It was known to some of the immediate neighbors 
of Dr. Samuels that Frank and Jesse James were at 
home. They had been seen occasionally at the little 
railway station of Kearney, v/hich is three miles dis- 
tant from the residence which had been, and was 
still claimed, as the home of the outlaws. Near 
neighbors, in casually passing, had seen them about 
the barnyards. All these things had been faithfully 
reported to the chief detective at Kansas City. 



i^RANk AND JESSE JAMES. 185 

At length the opportune time for striking a deci- 
sive blow was deemed to have arrived. Dispatches 
in cipher were sent to Chicago for reinforcements, 
and specific orders touching their movements after 
their arrival near the objective point, were given. 
The Kansas City division of the forces was held in 
readiness to co-operate with the force from the East. 
The citizens of Clay county, who had so zealously 
aided the detectives, received final instructions as to 
the part they were to take in the grand coup, by 
which their county was to be forever relieved of the 
presence of the dangerous outlaws. 

Extraordinary precautions had been taken to 
maintain a profound secrecy as to the movements 
and purposes of the detectives. No strange men 
had been seen loitering about Kearney. Everything 
which could possibly be done to allay suspicion on 
the part of the outlaws had been done. But the 
Jameses had friends everywhere in Western Missouri 

keen, shrewd, vigilant men, who noted everything, 

and whose suspicions were aroused by the slightest 
circumstance. The very quiet which prevailed was 
ominous of approaching danger. Somehow, too, 
they had learned of the sending and receiving of 
cipher messages by a Clay county man, at Liberty. 
This made them doubly watchful. 

The extensive preparations which had been made, 
and the necessity imposed upon them of waitiig for 
a suitable opportunity to strike, had occupied much 
time, and it was not until the night of the 25th of 



1 86 



LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 



January, that the detectives made the final attack. 

Jesse and Frank had been seen near the Samuels 
place that very evening, and no doubt was enter- 
tained that they were at home. 

The detective forces destined for the attack on 
what was facetiously termed " Castle James, " 
were divided into small squads, and began to 
arrive in Clay county on the afternoon of the 24th, 
from the East. Coming after night, they were met 
by citizens of Clay county and conducted to places 
of shelter in the most quiet and secret manner. 
After nightfall on the evening of the 25th, a special 
train came up by Kearney, and on it came another 
detachment from Kansas City. These were met by 
citizens well acquainted, and conducted to the place 
of rendezvous. 

Secretly as these movements had been conducted, 
the ever-vigilant Jesse had his suspicions aroused by 
some trivial circumstance, which would have escaped 
the attention of almost any other man. Convinced 
that some formidable movement was going on, de- 
signed to consummate his destruction, Jesse James, 
his brother, and another member of the band rode 
away from the Samuels house after nightfall that 
very evening, and at the hour when the detectives 
arrived in the vicinity of the place where they ex- 
pected to capture them, the Jameses were riding in 
the cold, well on their way to the house of a friend, 
miles away. 

Thj detectives had no intimation that their in- 



Frank and jesse james. 187 

tended victims had taken the alarm and departed 
from the place. They were assured that the outlaws 
had been seen in the vicinity of their home at a late 
hour in the afternoon, and it was believed that they 
were there still. 

The night was cold and dark. It was late — per- 
haps near midnight, when the detective force arrived 
at the farm-house. There were nine men selected 
from Pinkerton's force because of their shrewdness 
and courage, and several citizens of the vicinty who, 
like the detectives, were fully armed. The assailing 
forces took up their stations completely surrounding 
the house. Some balls of tow thoroughly saturated 
with kerosene oil and turpentine had been prepared, 
and the detectives carried with them some formidable 
hand-grenades to be used in the assault. Two of 
the assailants approached a window at the rear of 
the house. The slight noise made in opening the 
shutters and raising the sash aroused a negro woman, 
an old family servant, who was sleeping in the apart- 
ment. She at once set up a shout of alarm which 
speedily brought to the room Mrs. Samuels, her hus- 
band, and several members of the family, some of 
them young children. 

Just then a lighted ball of tow and oil was 
thrown into the room. The place was instantly 
brilliantly illuminated. The inmates of course, hav- 
ing just been aroused from slumber, were greatly 
agitated at this unexpected assault. The situation 
was truly appalling. Another lighted ball was hurled 



1 8-8 



LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 



into the room. The younger members of the family 
cried out piteously as they fled aghast from the lurid 
flames that shot toward the ceiling. Mrs. Samuels 
quickly recovered her presence of mind, and began 
to give directions and personally to exert herself in 




Night Attack on the Samuels Residence. 

the work of subduing the flames. She was permit- 
ted only a moment to engage in this employment. 
There was a sudden crash as a great iron ball struck 
the floor, followed in an instant by a terrific explo- 
sion. Instantly the room was filled by a dense cloud 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 189 

of smoke, through which the white flames of the fire- 
balls gleamed with a lurid red hue as if tinged with 
blood. There was a wail of agony from within that 
pandemonium of midnight horrors which might well 
have called emotion to a heart of stone. The pite- 
ous moans of childhood in dying throes, were mingled 
with the deeper groans of suffering age, and the 
shriller cries of terrified youth. The work of the 
assailants in that particular line of attack was com- 
plete. And yet the noted outlaws did not appear. 
It was at once concluded that they were not present 
or they would have shown themselves under such 
circumstances. The attacking force did not wait to 
ascertain the result of the explosion of their terrible 
missile. They realized only that the game they 
sought had escaped them, and they retired from the 
place without caring to learn anything more about 
the consequences of their effort. They had failed, 
and that was all they felt interested in ascertaining. 
When the smoke had cleared away and the fires 
which had been kindled about the house were extin- 
guished, the extent of the execution done by the 
explosion was fully revealed. The spectacle pre- 
sented was awful beyond any power of our pen to 
describe. There, lying on the floor, in a pool of 
blood, poured out from his own young veins, was the 
mangled form of an eight-year old son of Mrs. Sam- 
uels, in the very throes of death; Mrs. Samuels' right 
arm hung helpless by her side, having been almost 
completely torn o^ above the elbow. Dr. Samuels 



190 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

was cut and bruised ; the aged colored woman was 
wounded in several places ; in fact, every member of 
the household was more or less injured. Blood was 
everywhere. Death was in the room ; and pain and 
grief combined smote upon every soul in that stricken 
home. 

Whatever the crimes of the boys of ill-favored 
reputation, they afforded no justification for this ter- 
rible assault in which innocent childhood was made 
the victim for the deeds of others. And the people 
of the state, without any exceptions, condemned the 
deed as wholly unjustifiable. The detectives made 
haste to leave the country, and the citizens who had 
assisted them returned to their homes and kept coun- 
sel with themselves. 

The dead boy was taken away, and in his little 
grave under the snow they left him lying, the sinless 
victim of sin, over whose untimely fate many hearts 
have swelled with emotions too big for utterance. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

PROPOSED AiMNESTY, 

There can be no doubt that there was a heavy 
undercurrent of popular opinion in favor of the James 
Boys, generated by a conviction that they were the 
victims of cruel and uncalled-for persecution, brought 
upon themselves by their adhesion to a cause which 
was dear to the hearts of many thousands of the 
citizens of iMissouri. Their later deeds were forgot- 
ten, while their former acts were remembered with 
admiration. Though the evidence seemed clear, 
which connected the Jameses and Youngers with in- 
numerable daring robberies, yet many hundreds of 
good people refused to credit the reports, and of- 
fered their sympathy to the men whom they believed 
to be victims of vile slanders and unwarrantable 
persecutions. 

The sympathy openly manifested for the boys 
came not from the reckless and vicious elements, but 
from influential persons all over the state. As late 
as 1875, there were thousands of respectable people 
in Missouri who had no sympathy with the move- 
ments set on foot by the legal authorities for the ap- 
prehension of the desperadoes, simply because they 
did not believe them to be robbers, and that the 

killing done by them was a justifiable punishment 
191 



192 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

inflicted on ancient enemies who richly deserved their 

fate. 

The effect of the raid on the residence of Mrs. 
Samuels, the mother of Frank and Jesse James, was 
to create a diversion in favor of the boys. The 
tragedy of that event was of so horrible a nature, 
that public sentiment set in strongly against any 
further attempt to capture the boys by force. There 
was a strong sentiment in many quarters of the state 
in favor of trying a policy of conciliation toward the 
desperadoes. The reasons advanced in favor of this 
policy were numerous, and some of them possessed 
some weight. It was alleged that the state had al- 
ready suffered the loss of considerable sums in pur- 
suing them ; that it was extremely doubtful whether 
their capture could ever be effected ; that in conse- 
quence the good name of the state must be tarnished ; 
that while the Jameses and Youngers were declared 
to be, and treated as outlaws, other bad men would 
commit crimes and shift the responsibility to the 
outlawed men ; that the course pursued toward the 
Jameses and Youngers was a species of persecution, 
and finally it was plead that all this persistent hunt- 
ing of these men was stimulated by the animosities 
of enemies, dating from the war time, and inasmuch 
as the United States Government had granted am- 
nesty to its enemies for acts committed during the 
continuance of hostilities, that it was not right the 
state of Missouri should pursue with vindictive perse- 
cution any of its citizens for acts committed during 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. I93 

the war, and their friends contended that the out- 
lawry of these men grew out of their course in the 
period between 1861 and 1865. 

These views and opinions in respect to the Jameses 
and Youngers assumed a formal shape in the early- 
part of March, 1875, by the introduction in the Leg- 
islature of Missouri by the late General Jeff. Jones, 
then a member of the House of Representatives 
from^ Callaway county, of a bill, or preambles and 
resolution, offering amnesty for all past offenses to 
Jesse W. James, Thomas Coleman Younger, Frank 
James, Robert Younger and James Younger, on the 
condition that they should return to their homes and 
quietly submit to such proceedings as might be in- 
stituted against them for acts alleged to have been 
committed by them since the war. 

The preambles and resolution offered by General 
Jones received the approval of Attorney-General 
John A. Hockaday, and of many other lawyers of 
acknowledged ability. General Jones supported the 
measure with great zeal and earnestness, and no little 
ability and eloquence. 

As this measure was one of great importance to 
the subjects of this volume, we deem it necessary to 
give the essential parts of the document, as follows : 

Whereas, By the 4th section of the nth Article of the Constitution 
of Missouri, all persons in the military service of the United States, or 
who acted under the authority thereof in this state, are relieved from 
all civil liability and all criminal punishment for all acts done by them 
since the ist day of January, A. D., 1861 ; and, 

Whereas, By the 12th section of the said nth Article of said Con- 

12 



194 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

stitution, provision is made by which, under certain circumstances, 
may be seized, transported to, indicted, tried and punished in distant 
counties, any Confederate under ban of despotic displeasure, thereby 
contravening the Constitution of the United States and every principle 
of enlightened humanity ; and, 

Whereas, Such discrimination evinces a want of manly generosity 
and statesmanship on the part of the party imposing, and of courage " 
and manhood on the part of the party submitting tamely thereto ; and, 

Whereas, Under the outlawry pronounced against Jesse W. 
James, Frank James, Coleman Younger, Robert Younger and others, 
who gallantly periled their lives and their all in the defense of their 
principles, they are of necessity made desperate, driven as they are 
from the fields of honest industry, from their friends, their families, 
their homes and their country, they can know no law but the law of 
self-preservation, nor can have no respect for and feel no allegiance to 
a government which forces them to the very acts it professes to depre- 
cate, and then offers a bounty for their apprehension, and arms foreign 
mercenaries with pov/er to capture and kill them ; and, 

Whereas, Believing these men too brave to be mean, too generous 
to be revengeful, and too gallant and honorable to betray a friend or 
break a promise ; and believing further that most, if not all the offences 
with which they are charged have been committed by others, and per- 
haps by those pretending to hunt them, or by their confederates; that 
their names are and have been used to divert suspicion from and 
thereby relieve the actual perpetrators ; that the return of these men to 
their homes and friends would have the effect of greatly lessening crime 
in our state by turning pubUc attention to the real criminals, and that 
common justice, sound policy and true statesmanship alike demand 
that amnesty should be extended to all alike of both parties for all acts 
done or charged to have been done during the war ; therefore, be it 

Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concun-itig 
therein : 

That the Governor of the State be, and he is hereby requested to 
issue his proclamation notifying the said Jesse W. James, Frank 
James, Coleman Younger, Robert Younger and James Younger, and 
others, that full and complete amnesty and pardon will be granted them 
for all acts charged or committed by them during the late civil war, and 
ii^viting them peaceably to return to their respective hppies in this 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. I95 

state and there quietly to remain, submitting themselves to such pro- 
ceedings as may be instituted against them by the courts for all offen- 
ses charged to have been committed since said war, promising and 
guaranteeing to them and each of them full protection and a fair trial 
therein, and that full protection shall be given them from the time of 
their entrance into the state and his notice thereof under said procla- 
mation and invitation. 

The above bill was introduced about the first of 
March, 1875, and was referred to the Committee on 
Criminal Jurisprudence, of which its author was a 
leading member. The bill was fully discussed in 
committee, and finally, through the influence of its 
author, a majority of the committee agreed to make 
a favorable report on the measure to the House of 
Representatives. Sometime towards the close of the 
session of the 28th General Assembly, the bill came 
up for its third reading in the House. General 
Jones made an earnest speech in advocacy of the 
measure. A member aroused a strong opposition to 
the measure from the very side of the house from 
which General Jones had hoped to obtain assistance 
in carrying it through. The member simply read a 
portion of a message transmitted by Governor Silas 
Woodson to the 27th General Assembly denouncing 
these same outlaws ; and the Democratic Legislature 
of Missouri refused to pass the bill. Thus the stigma 
of outlawry remained upon them, and their hands 
were turned against every man. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE SAN ANTONIO-AUSTIN STAGE PLUNDERED. 

It had been a lovely day. Nature had put on her 
richest habiliments of bloom and beauty. The sun 
shone with a genial warmth, and the air was soft and 
perfume-laden from the thousands of wild flowers 
exhaling the rich aroma from the wide prairies. It 
was an eminently respectable party who travelled 
from San Antonio on the stage that day. There 
were in the company the Right Rev. Bishop Gregg, 
of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Texas, and 
Mr. Breckenridge, president of the First National 
Bank of San Antonio ; three ladies, and six other 
gentlemen, merchants of San Antonio — in all, eleven 
travellers, well provided with the means to get 
through the world without fear of famishing. 

The stage was the regular four-horse. United 
States mail coach, running in the line between San 
Antonio and Austin, Texas. 

The respectable party of eleven travellers had as 
pleasant a time as the crowded condition of the 
stage and the monotonous nature of the scenery 
could be expected to afford them. Of course the 
bright sunlight made the scenery appear at least 
cheerful. 

The stage was bowling along the well-beaten 

196 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. igf 

highway, drawn by four fresh horses, which had 
been hitched to it about half an hour before sun- 
down. They had gone from "the stand" perhaps 
as much as four miles, and it was getting quite 
dusky — daylight fading away in the west. The 
stage had reached a point about twenty-five miles 
west from Austin. 

In the gathering gloom, the driver beheld what 
appeared to be six rancheros, wearing sombreros, 
approaching the road just before him. Such inci- 
dents were not infrequent on that part of the route, 
and the appearance of the six men did not at first 
create any feeling of disquiet in the mind of the 
Jehu. But as the party drew nearer, and he discov- 
ered that they were mounted on splendid "American 
horses," and not " mustangs," he thought it very sin- 
gular, to say the least of it. He was an old stager 
on the plains, and not inclined to be "panicky," 
but he muttered, " I'll sware, them's queer fellers, 
anyhow." He did not have time to think very much 
about them, for in another moment two of the horse- 
men rode alongside the stage, with revolvers cocked, 
and commanded, with a great oath, " Halt ! " 
Of course there was no alternative, for two more 
of the robbers had galloped in front of the foremost 
span of horses and checked the further progress of 
the stage team. The other two robbers had taken 
up a position on both sides of the stage — one at each 
post, and were pointing pistols at the passengers, 
and with horrible oaths teUing them to "tumble 



tgS LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

out" at once, or die. The astonished passengers — 
not even the Reverend Bishop — were just then ready 
to adopt the latter alternative, and very gracefully 
descended from the stage. 

The passengers were formed into a group, which 
irjcluded the driver, and two of the bandits, with 
drawn revolvers, stood guard over them. The two 
horsemen in front dismounted and detached the 
lead-span of horses, and with the other two com- 
menced their search for booty. 

The trunks of the passengers were broken open, 
and every valuable thing which could be easily car- 
ried away was appropriated. The United States 
mail bags were then cut and the letters torn open. 
In this part of the stage-load they were quite suc- 
cessful, securing a large amount of bills in registered 
packages. One of the mail-bags was appropriated 
as a receptacle for the plunder. Having gone 
through the baggage and mail matter, the bandits 
turned their attention to the passengers. There was 
an animated dialogue carried on for a time, in the 
following style : 

" Well, gentlemen and ladies, allow us to trouble 
you for the money and jewelry which you may have 
about you." 

" Do you mean to rob us ? " asked the Bishop. 

" Oh, no ! Don't use such ugly language. We 
just want to relieve you of a burden — that's all, old 
sock." 

" You don't call that robbery ? " asked the Bishop. 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. I99 

"Come, now, old coon! Dry up, or you'll not have 
an opportunity to ask any more nonsensical ques- 
tions. Hand out your money!" 

The Bishop reluctantly complied. 

"Now that watch of yours!" they further com- 
manded. 

"What! Will you not allow me to keep my 
watch. It is a gift and dearly prized. You would 
not rob an humble minister of Christ of his time- 
piece, would you?" queried the Bishop. 

"So, ho! You are a parson then, judging from 
the cut of your buckskins — or a priest — it makes no 
difference. Well, Christ didn't have any watch, and 
he didn't ride in stages either. He walked about to 
do his Father's will, and wasn't arrayed in fine 
clothes, and didn't fare sumptuously every day. 
What use has a preacher for a watch ? Go and travel 
like the Master. Out with that watch ! No more 
words — not one, mind you ! We are not Christians, 
we are Philistines. 

The Bishop was constrained to give up his watch — 
a valuable and much prized one. 

" Anything more ? Out with it.'* 

The Bishop protested that he had nothing more of 
value about his person. They, however, made a per- 
sonal examination before they were satisfied, one of 
them remarking: 

" You can't depend on many of these long-faced 
canters, anyhow." 

Then the robbers searched Mr. Breckenridge, and 



200 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

from him they obtained a plethoric pocketbook, con- 
taining one thousand dollars, and an elegant gold 
watch, and a very valuable diamond pin. 

So they went from one to another of the passen- 
gers, until the eight gentlemen of the respectable 
party of travellers had been politely plundered. 
Then the turn of the ladies came. 

" Hand out your pocket-book," said the leader to 
the first lady approached. 

" Yes, sir, here it is," replied the frightened lady, 
handing him her money. 

The robber took it, opened it, and examined the 
contents by the light of the stage lantern. Then he 
came back to the lady, and asked if that was all the 
money she had. She replied that it was. He then 
inquired where she was going. She told him to 
Houston. 

** Here, madam, take your money. We regret 
the trouble we have given you." 

So they went to the other two ladies, and from 
one they got a watch, some jewelry, and about one 
hundred dollars in cash. From another they received 
some valuable jewelry, and a considerable sum of 
money. 

Their work was now completed. During the two 
hours they held the passengers under guard, they 
sometimes made jesting remarks, and at other times 
threatening ones. The least want of alacrity in 
obeying their orders was sure to subject the passen- 
gers to the direst threats. The robbers took with 



I^RANK AND JESSE JAMES. ^Ol 

them the lead-span of horses when they rode away. 

The whole amount of cash taken from the passen- 
gers exceeded three thousand dollars, besides several 
gold watches, and considerable jewelry of value. 
The amount taken from the mail bags was several 
hundred dollars. 

Who were the robbers ? This question was infer- 
entially answered sometime afterward, when, in a 
conflict with a Texas official, Jim Reed, a member of 
the gang, was mortally wounded, and confessed 
that he was one of the party, and that his associates 
were men from Missouri, noted as " brave boys." 
Who were so noted on the 7th day of April, 1874, 
at which time the stage robbery took place, but 
Frank and Jesse James, and the Younger Brothers? 
It is now the settled conviction of all who are ac- 
quainted with the facts, that the James Boys were 
there and " bossed the job." 



CHAPTER XXX. 

FARMER ASKEW'S FATE. 

During the time General Jone's amnesty measure 
was pending in the Legislature of Missouri, Jesse 
and Frank James remained very quiet. They e/en 
opened up communication with Governor Chdrles H. 
Hardin and Attorney-General John A. Hockaday, 
through Sheriff Groome, of Clay county. From all 
the evidence at present available, we are forced to 
believe that at this time Jesse and Frank James were 
sincerely anxious that the measure should be adopted, 
and were in earnest in the desire to conclude a peace 
with society with which they had been at war for ten 
long years. 

For a time their vengeance slumbered. It was 
known to them that certain neighbors of theirs in 
Clay county had taken an active interest in the ef- 
forts which had been put forth to accomplish their 
arrest, and every one expected that a bloody re- 
taliation would follow. Their conduct had made for 
them many enemies in the community of which their 
father had been an honored member. Some of these 
were open and outspoken in denunciation of their 
course, while others were restrained in expressions of 
hostility by their knowledge of the desperate and 

vengeful character of the men. 

202 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 203 

6ut the Jameses knew when to restrain themselves, 

a.nd carefully abstained from any act that might lose 

to them the effect of the slight revulsion in public 

opinion in their favor caused by the tragic results of 

the night raid. But they had marked their men — 

vengeance was only delayed. Possibly, if General 

Jone's amnesty measure had succeeded, they would 

have withheld the hand of destruction, and their 

intended victims, instead of mouldering in gory 

graves, might to-day be alive. It is impossible to 

even conjecture what might have been the effect on 

the future life of the daring desperado, Jesse James. 

He might have turned away from the evil way which 

he had travelled so long, and atoned by an upright 

life for all the past. But it was not to be. For to 

them — 

" The die now cast, their station known. 
Fond expectation past; 
The thorns which former days had sown, 
To crops of late repentance grown, 
Through which they toil'd at last ; 
While every care's a driving harm, 
That helped to bear them down ; 
Which faded smiles no more could chan% 
But every tear a winter storm, 
And every look a frown." 

They were outlaws still. Hunted as enemies of 
their kind, they turned viciously to avenge what 
they, no doubt, earnestly believed their wrongs. 

Among those who had expressed in strong terms 
his disapproval of the conduct of the James Boys, 
was Mr. Daniel H. Askew, a well-to-do farmer, and 



i04 LIFE AND ADVENTURES 01? 

somewhat prominent citizen of Clay county, whose 
farm and residence was near the home of the 
Jameses. The outspoken opinion of Mr. Askew had 
given great offense to the Jameses and their friends, 
and when the night raid was made in January they 
at once suspected that Askew had been partly in- 
strumental in bringing it about. This belief was 
strengthened by some of the scouts in the interest of 
the Jameses finding a couple of blankets, and evi- 
dences of the late presence of men among Mr. 
Askew's haystacks. To still further confirm them 
in the belief that Askew assisted the detectives in the 
attack on the Samuels house, a young man known 
as Jack Ladd, who had been in Askew's employ as 
a farmer, departed from the country on the night of 
the assault. 

It is but justice to the memory of Mr. Askew, to 
state in this place that he frequently and earnestly 
disclaimed having any knowledge whatever of the 
movements of the detectives in the employ of Mr. 
Pinkerton. But his denials had no weight with the 
vengeful Jameses. They and their friends continued 
to believe that the attacking party were sheltered 
and led by farmer Daniel H. Askew, and they re- 
solved to execute dire vengeance upon him. 

On the night of April I2th, 1875, Mr. Askew went 
with a bucket to a spring some distance from his 
residence, and returned to the house with the bucket 
filled with water. He had sat the bucket on a bench 
and was standing on his back porch, not having yet 




Death of Farmer Askew, 



^vn 



206 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

entered the house after returning from the spring. 
Just in the rear of the house, and within ten paces 
of the edge of the porch on which Mr. Askew was 
standing, there was a heap of firewood reaching per- 
haps to the height of five or six feet. Behind this 
wood-heap the assassins found a convenient hiding 
place. Whoever they may have been, they had rid- 
den to the rear of a field, hitched their horses, and 
walked through the field to their place of conceal- 
ment. 

Suddenly the report of a pistol, followed instan- 
taneously by the report of two shots, rang out on the 
night air, and Mr. Askew fell upon the floor of the 
porch and immediately expired. Some members of 
the family, in a great state of alarm, rushed out to his 
assistance, but found him already dead. Three shots, 
evidently fired from heavy revolvers, had taken effect 
in the head of the poor farmer, and one had crashed 
through his brain. 

The murderers had run back across the field, 
mounted their horses and departed before the grief- 
stricken and astonished family could make any 
movements toward discovering their identity. 

That night at a late hour some men on horseback 
rode by the house of Mr. Henry Sears, and sum- 
moned him to the door. He saw three men in the 
road. One of them called to him and said, " We 
have killed Dan Askew to-night, and if anyone wants 
to know who did it, say detectives." 

Having thus delivered their terrible message, the 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 20/ 

men rode away in the dark. And the friends and 
neighbors gathered to the Askew farm-house to con- 
sole his bereaved and stricken family, and the coro- 
ner came next day, " due inquisition to make into 
the causes which led to Daniel H. Askew's death." 
But from that day to this no one knows to a certainty 
who took the farmer's life. The general behef at the 
time was, that he had fallen a victim to the vengeance 
of the James Boys. The years that have elapsed 
have only served to strengthen that belief and deepen 
the convictions of those who believed that Askew 
died at the hands of the vengeful outlaws. Who can 
tell ? Only Him who knoweth all things, and the 
assassins, if still alive, hold the dreadful secret. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

GOLD DUST — THE MUNCIE BUSINESS. 

" Scores may be found whose errant-time 
Know not one hour of rest ; 
Their lives one course of faithless crime, 
Their eveiy deed — unrest." 

INTuNCiE is a little wayside station on the Kansas 
Pacific Railroad, not many miles from Kansas City, 
in Wyandotte county, Kansas. The situation, sur- 
roundings and small importance of the place in 
other respects, were not calculated to give it a wide- 
spread fame ; and yet Muncie has become a place of 
historic renown, as the scene of one of the most 
daring exploits of the most renowned outlaws of 
modern times. 

It happened one dreary December evening in the 
year 1875. On that occasion the programme which 
had served at Gadshill was carried out at Muncie. 
A band of armed men, well mounted, and keen and 
alert, had waited until the east-bound passenger 
train on the great thoroughfare between the rich 
mines of the West and the centers of commerce in 
the East arrived near their chosen lair. The topog- 
raphy of the region, and other favorable circum- 
stances, rendered the task one of easy accomplish- 
ment, though it involved an exhibition of daring 
which few men care to manifest. 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 2O9 

In some way the bandits, of which Frank and 
Jesse James were chiefs, had information that a large 
amount of silver and gold was in charge of the ex- 
press messenger on that train. It has been said that 
this information was transmitted to them by Jackson 
Bishop, who had been a noted Guerrilla in Quan- 
trell's command, and who, subsequent to the cessa- 
tion of hostilities, had journeyed to the " Far West," 
and entered into business as a mining operator in Col- 
orado. Be that as it may, one thing is certain, the 
knights of the road had information that the express 
company had treasures in trust that trip, and these 
they were ready to appropriate. 

In due time the train approached Muncie. There 
was no sign of warning, and when the engine came 
to a standstill at the wayside station, in obedience to 
a signal, it was immediately taken possession of by 
seven men. The engineer and fireman were carefully 
guarded. The passengers were admonished and in- 
timidated by the presence of armed men on the 
platforms of the cars, whose formidable pistols 
seemed to be pointed at each individual passenger, 
and the harsh commands of those men were obeyed 
with alacrity by the surprised passengers. But the 
robbers were generous that evening. The treasure 
in the express car was what they sought. Individ- 
ual possessions were as "the small dust" com- 
pared to that. 

The express messenger was immediately con- 
fronted. Demands were made upon him with which 

13 



210 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

he was compelled to comply. The safe was opened, 
and then the robbers proceeded to examine the con- 
tents of that treasure box at their leisure. The 
gain was worth the daring. Their reward was thirty 
thousand dollars in gold dust. The contents of the 
car were further examined, and a large amount of sil- 
ver and other valuables were secured. 

On this occasion the bandits were content with 
the spoils of the express car, which, it is said, 
amounted to about fifty-five thousand dollars. The 
passengers were, therefore, not subjected to the 
manipulations of the robbers. 

As usual, the news of this fresh outrage by band- 
its was flashed far and wide. The country was 
aroused, and in an incredibly short space of time 
many bands of men were abroad in all directions, 
hunting the robbers. All their efforts proved vain. 
The shrewd raiders escaped with their booty. 

A few days after the great train robbery at Mun- 
cie,.a police ofdcer at Kansas City, in the discharge 
of his duty, arrested one Bill McDaniels, charged 
with being drunk on the street. When he was 
brought to the station and searched, articles on his 
person were identified as having been taken from the 
express car at Muncie. Every possible effort was 
made to induce Bill McDaniels to designate his con- 
federates in the train robbery. But to every propo- 
sition he was deaf, and finally, in attempting to es- 
cape, he was shot dead, dying without revealing the 
name of his confederates. The bandits escaped. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

OTHER EXPLOITS. 

** Where I am injured, there I'll sue redress, 
Look to it, every one who bars my access | 
I have a heart to feel the injury, 
A hand to right myself, and by my honor, 
That hand shall grasp what gray beard Law denies me." 

The James Boys have always claimed that they 
were driven into outlawry by the very instrumental- 
ity which organized society has employed to sub- 
serve the ends of justice and afford protection to the 
rights and liberties of all — namely, the government. 
This claim, made by them, has been partly conce- 
ded by a large class of persons, irrespective of all 
political affihations and social relations. So their 
wild career was commenced, and so it has proceeded 
through many years. 

That the Jameses have been accused of crimes 

which they did not commit, there is scarcely room 

for doubt. One of the deeds which has been laid to 

their charge was the robbery committed at Corinth, 

Alcorn county, Mississippi. This event happened 

the same day that the train was robbed at Muncie, 

Kansas. The two places are many hundred miles 

apart, and of course the Jameses could not have 

been at both places at the same time. It is possible, 

indeed probable, that the robbery at Corinth, which 
sxi 



212 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OP 

stripped the bank at that place of a very large sum 
of money, was the handiwork of some of the mem- 
bers of the desperate band of men, of which the 
Jameses were the acknowledged leaders. The same 
tactics which had been so successfully emploved at 
Ste. Genevieve, Russellville, Corydon, Gallatin, and 
other points, characterized the raid on the funds of 
the bank of Corinth. The spoils obtained were ex- 
ceedingly valuable, and although energetic pursuit 
was made, the robbers succeeded in making their 
escape. Their trail, however, was followed into Mis- 
souri, and several circumstances indicate that the 
successful bandits were members of the same organ- 
ization with the James Boys and Younger Brothers. 
After this there was a season of quiet. 

In the spring of 1876 the robbers renewed the 
campaign for spoils. The incidents of the past year 
had begun to become memories, and the success 
which had attended the gang during the past years 
had given them confidence in their ability to plun- 
der at will wherever they might select a field for the 
exhibition of their prowess and skill. The trees 
had assumed their green habiliments, and the early 
spring flowers exhaled their choicest perfumes, 
scenting the balmy breezes as they blew over hills 
and through valleys. The schemers had planned 
another raid. This time they selected an objective 
point remote from the scenes of their former deeds. 
It was a romantic expedition away into the moun- 
tain regions of Eastern Kentucky and the state of 



Frank and jesse james. ^13 

West Virginia. The spring-birds sang cheery lays 
as the brigands marched on to their destined halting 
place. 

Huntington, West Virginia, is a beautiful town of 
about 3,000 inhabitants, situated on the Ohio river, 
in Cabell county, and is on the line of the Chesa- 
peake & Ohio Railroad. In 1876, the advent of the 
steam cars had given an impetus to trade, and the 
old town had taken a new growth. The bold bandits 
had selected Huntington as the scene of a most sen- 
sational event. The tactics which had served so 
well on many other occasions were once more 
adopted. On a bright April day, four men made 
their appearance at the bank. They had come 
through the streets without exciting any suspicion. 
When they had arrived at the front of the bank, 
two of them dismounted, drew their pistols, rushed 
into the bank, where they found Mr. Oney, the cash- 
ier, and another gentleman. These they at once 
covered with their pistols, and proceeded to over- 
power the cashier. They then emptied the contents 
of the safe into a sack, and leaving Oney and his 
friend securely bound, they proceeded to remount 
their horses. 

While the two robbers were engaged inside, the 
other two, who had remained in the street, very ef- 
fectually overawed the citizens who came that way, 
by displaying their pistols and occasionally firing a 
shot. The whole operation was completed within 
less than half an hour from the time the robbers 



214 LIF£ AND ADVENTURES OP 

made their appearance in Huntington. There were 
not many persons who knew what had happened 
until after the marauders had left the place. When 
the people awakened to a realization of the true na- 
ture of the morning occurrence, there was at once a 
storm of excitement raised. Officers of the law and 
citizens of Huntington, without official relations, 
vied with each other in the alacrity with which they 
prepared to pursue the robbers. 

As soon as the two robbers who had taken the 
treasure were mounted, the whole party galloped 
away, intimidating the citizens as they went by firing 
off their pistols. 

A vigorous pursuit was at once commenced. The 
robbers were a long way from their base; and the 
road before them was rugged and difficult. For 
days the pursuit was unabated. Bligh, the well- 
known detective of Louisville, sent his best men on 
the road to track the fugitives. The chase became 
exciting. Diverted from their intended line of re- 
treat, the marauders sought refuge among the moun- 
tains of Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. The 
horses of the robbers failed and were abandoned. 
Finally the pursuers came up with the fugitives. A 
fight ensued, and one of the robbers was killed be- 
fore they had left the borders of Kentucky. This 
person was identified afterward as Thomason Mc- 
Daniels, a brother of Bill, who was killed while at- 
tempting to escape from the officers in Kansas City, 
after the affair at Muncie. The pursuit was contin- 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 2l5 

ued. In the hills of Fentress county, Tennessee, 
the officers came up with the robbers again. This 
time they succeeded in capturing Jack Kean, an- 
other desperado, known in Western Missouri and 
Kentucky. The others escaped, and finally made 
their way into Missouri. 

Kean was taken back and lodged in jail at Cabell. 
The grand jury of Cabell county returned a true 
bill against him, and in due time he was placed on 
trial, convicted, and received a long sentence in the 
penitentiary of West Virginia. The presence of 
McDaniels and Kean, both well-known desperadoes 
of Missouri, at once suggested the James Boys as 
leaders in the Huntington robbery. Detective 
Bligh at first heralded to the world that Jesse 
James was captured when Kean was taken. State- 
ments subsequently made by the convicted robber 
left no doubt that certainly Jesse James, and proba- 
bly Frank, were parties to the robbery of the bank 
at Huntington. 

It matters not who were the robbers in name. 
The deed was undoubtedly committed by members 
of the organization of which the James Boys were 
the most noted leaders. The destiny which seems 
to have led them continued to favor them. The 
leaders of the Huntington raid escaped, and carried 
the bulk of the Huntington bank's funds with them. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 
Jesse's wooing and wedding. 

** Oh, say not that my heart is cold 

To aught that once could warm it; 
That Beauty's form, so clear of old, 

No more has power to charm it ; 
Or that the ungenerous world can chill 

One glow of fond emotion, 
For those who made it dearer still 

And shared my wild devotion." 

Jesse James, the bold raider and dashing outlaw, 
in love? Preposterous! And yet why not ? Those 
who have studied the ways of human nature with 
most attention, find nothing singular in the fact that 
Jesse might prove an ardent lover, or wonderful in 
the assumption that he might be beloved in turn. 
Love is the grand passion after all, and few persons 
have lived who did not at some time in the course of 
their lives feel the deep chords of their hearts touched, 
and realize the tender spell that enchained them. 
Why should not Jesse James, the man of splendid 
physique, the very embodiment of strong passions, 
yield to the powerful influence which so universally 
sways the human heart? Rather, we might ask, 
why should Jesse James not " fall in love," as the 
expression goes? It was perfectly natural that he 
should at some time, somewhere, find some one en- 
dowed with the capability of awakening in him the 

3l6 



fRANK AND JESSfi JAMES. ^t^ 

tender passion. Was he not human? Were his 
emotions and constitution so different from the rest 
of the children of time? What i( he was outlawed? 
Had he not eyes to see and ears to hear? Had all 
tender feelings found a grave in his heart ? 

It is true that the nature of his employment and 
the circumstances which surrounded him, rendered 
his life an isolated one to a certain extent. He was 
not thrown into the great whirlpool which the world 
calls society, and this very isolation of his position 
would very naturally prompt him to seek the com- 
panionship of one who could hold a nearer and dearer 
place in his heart than even his brother. He might 
yet retrieve some of the disasters of the past, and 
wipe out some of the stains which blurred his char- 
acter, if led by the sweet, gentle mfluence of a true 
woman. Who can ever know what hopes animated 
him; what bright dreams of a better life cheered 
him, when he thought of her who would not — per- 
haps could not join in the general execration of his 
name ? It may be that at such times a vision rose 
before him, of a quiet home with peace after the 
strife, where love dwelt, and where the bitter curses 
of the past might never come; it may be that he 
looked forward to the rest which would come to his 
tempest-riven breast, when the storm had passed and 
the serene sun lighted his pathway through a quiet 
land. And at such times it was but natural that he 
should seek the presence of the beloved one, and 
plead with her — 



2l8 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OP 

** Oh linger yet a moment I 
Is it a sin that I have loved thee so, 
And worshiped thy bright image ? If it be, 
Let grief and suffering atone for that, 
Long as this heart can know the power of pain, — 
But let me look on thee and hear thee still." 

And what woman ever listened unmoved to such 
appeals ? " The brave deserve the fair," and the 
history of the race shows that when the heart is en- 
listed, when the tender bloom of love sheds its per- 
fume around her, woman is careless of the world's 
opinion, and brave in daring its frowns. 

Jesse had a fair cousin — a handsome young lady, 
possessed of an amiable disposition, and a mind 
well stored with knowledge. This destined bride of 
the distinguished outlaw is the daughter of a sister 
of the Rev. Robert James, who was married in the 
days of her youth to a Mr. Mimms. Miss Zee 
Mimms was deprived of a mother's love and guid- 
ance at a time when she was just entering the estate 
of womanhood. She had a sister older than herself 
who was united in marriage with Mr. Charles Mc- 
Bride, a respectable carpenter and builder in Kansas 
City, about the year 1869. For several years Miss 
Mimms resided with her relatives in Kansas City, and 
gained the respect and esteem of a large circle of 
acquaintances. In the days of her childhood she 
had known her cousin Jesse, and his bright blue 
eyes and soft, peach-like complexion, and the smile 
that used to ripple over his countenance, and his 
cheery words, may even then have drawn the little 



JTRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 2tg 

girl toward her cousin. As time went by, Zee had 
grown to the condition of womanhood, and Jesse had 
become celebrated as a daring soldier, and afterwards 
a reckless outlaw. But somehow Miss Zee could 
never believe her cousin Jesse to be so bad as he was 
represented, and when they met — which they fre- 
quently did — she always had a word of gentle af- 
fection for cousin Jesse, who was ever kind in his 
behavior toward her. 

Many times Jesse James was seen in Kansas City, 
when to be there was an exposure to imminent 
peril. When the wild winds swept across the frozen 
river, and screamed over the hills, Jesse was accus- 
tomed to dare the fury of the tempest, brave the chill 
of the temperature, and seek the cosy fireside which 
became a shrine, when blessed by the presence of 
his fair cousin. 

And when it was summer time and the forest path- 
ways were gloomy in the shadows of night; and the 
stars in the deep azure vault of heaven alone lent 
their feeble rays to illuminate the dark world, then 
the outlaw would take his lonely way across the 
wide prairies, through the deep-tangled forests where 
the owls hide by day and hoot by night, and the 
wild tenants of the woodlands make their lair ; by 
lonely streams, murmuring as their waters go on the 
way to mingle with the far-wandering tide of the 
mighty Missouri, to seek the side of her whose smile 
was always brighter at his coming. 

What mattered it to him if the streets of the city 



^20 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

were deserted by all, save the guardians of the law, 
who, in the deep shadowed recesses waited and 
watched for him ? His courage owned no limitations 
under ordinary circumstances. What might it be- 
come if stimulated by the all-intoxicating influence 
of love ? If the watchers saw him under the gas- 
light in the streets of the slumbering city, they let 
him go, and so Jesse's courting days passed away. 

The outlaw's wooing proceeded, and was com- 
pleted. Who knows what thoughts were his in those 
days ? Who can ever tell by what processes of rea- 
soning, or influence of love. Miss Zee Mimms recip- 
rocated the outlaw's passion? Who knows what 
earnest councils she held with her own mind and the 
processes which ended in the triumph of the affec- 
tions, and a perfect yielding to him, and the devel- 
opment of a devotion which smiled at contumely 
and consented to sacrifice all things which had be- 
fore been pleasing to her, at the shrine of love ? His 
presence became necessary to her happiness, and 
her smile was sunlight poured into the otherwise 
dark recesses of the outlaw's heart. 

So it came about one pleasant evening in 1874, 
that Jesse James and Miss Zee Mimms repaired to 
the house of Dr. Denham, a mutual friend, 
near Kearney, Clay county, Missouri, where 
they were met by the Rev. William James, of the M. 
E. Church, South, an uncle of Jesse, who pro- 
ceeded to unite the lovers in the holy bonds of mat- 
rimony. The ceremony was performed in the pres- 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 221 

encQ of the Doctor's family and one or two intimate 
friends. Jesse James had won a wife, and Miss Zee 
Mimms had consented in her devotion to become an 
outlaw's bride. 

Ostracised by society, proscribed by the law, and 
hunted by enemies and the officers of justice, Jesse 
James took his bride, and they journeyed away. 
Across plains, through valleys, over streams toward 
"the clime of the sun," the outlaw and his bride 
sought a place where they could rest, and in each 
other's society, 

*• Like some vision olden 

Of far other time, 
When the age was golden, 

In the young world's prime. 
Of the future dreaming. 

Weary of the past, 
For the present scheming, 

Happy they, at last." 

What cared they for the cold world's scorn? Jesse 
had provided a cosy home far away on the borders 
of civilization, where the names of mountains, vales, 
and springs, and streams, are softened in the musical' 
language of old Castile. But we have heard that even 
in that distant land the life of the outlaw's wife is not 
isolated, but, on the contrary, under a name which 
their conduct has made respectable, they have 
friends, and she her associates, who are ignorant of 
the history of the outlaw, and hold her in esteem. 

A little child, born sometime in 1876, has come to 
'bless their union by its childish prattle, and the dar- 



222 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

ing outlaw has been seen with the innocent little one 
mounted on his shoulder engaged in racing about his 
ranche. It maybe that there are episodes in the life 
of Jesse James which are like the green oasis in the 
sun-beaten desert — bright moments when the demon 
is temporarily vanquished, and the spirit of goodness 
illuminates the world about him. The man who can 
love cannot be wholly the slave of vengeance and 
hate, and even Jesse James may possess traits of 
mind and qualities of the heart, which point to 
something higher and better than what is known of 
him. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

A DREAM OF LOVE. 

" Fancies, bright as flowers of Eden, 
Often to his spirit come, 
"Winging through the mind's brief sunlight, 
Glad as swallows flying home. 
Love is the true heart's religion I 
Let us not its power deny. 
But love on as flowers love sunshine, 
Or the happy birds the sky." 

Frank James was an outlaw. The smooth-faced, 
beardless youth who came from the school where he 
had pondered over the thoughts of Euripides, who 
had all Greece for a monument, to unite his fortune 
and venture his fate with Quantrell's band, had be- 
come a man, bearded and strong, daring and dan- 
gerous to his fellow-men. And the sprightly intel- 
lect that had enabled him to lead his class, and the 
youthful ardor which had conjured up classic forms 
among " the sacred relics of Almighty Rome," as 
his mental vision was turned back through the vista 
of many departed centuries, were now floundering 
in the muddy pools, and reveling in plots and 
schemes, sordid and debasing. He was not old in 
years, and yet he was ripe in experience. Year 
after year had chased each other down the steeps of 
time since Frank James became a soldier of the 

233 



224 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

highways, a participant in the well-planned ambush- 
ment, and an executioner in the sudden surprise and 
fatal catastrophe to the enemy who came into the 
well-planned ambuscade, and he had witnessed un- 
moved the agony of victims when shaken by the 
throes of death. 

Could this man, whose hands were red with the 
crimson stains left there by the blood of victims ; 
whose mind was made harsh and hard by years of 
struggle against organized society ; whose conscience 
must have become seared by the long contact with 
the rude, rough elements inhuman nature; whose 
heart must have become callous by reason of the 
cruel scenes through which he had passed — could 
such a one have tender dreams of love ? And yet 
we might ask, why not? The tender affinities of 
affection which sprang from psychological causes is 
one of the most beneficent schemes of God's benev- 
olence, which traverses all space in its flights, and 
lives the visible token of man's divinity on earth 
and his hope in heaven. The hand that would 
thwart them would interrupt the course of laws based 
on eternal verities. 

The fact is, neither time, space, conditions, nor 
the recognized canons of social life, can induce or 
hinder the inception, growth, or maturity of a pas- 
sion, which is acknowledged to be the most potent 
of all to which man is subject. Why, then, should 
Frank James not be smitten ? In his wanderings he 
had met many fair ones. And beauty had smiled on 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 22$ 

him. But he knew that they were unacquainted 
with his name and antecedents, and so he refused to 
be led captive by these, whose love might turn to 
hate when they knew all. 

It is said by those who know Frank James, that 
he is endowed with a very superior mind; that his 
education is very good ; that he is able to read the 
classics, and can converse fluently in both the Ger- 
man and Spanish languages. With these accomplish- 
ments, he possesses a handsome person and agreea- 
ble features. In conversation, he speaks in a soft, 
low tone of voice, and in private life, among his 
friends, his manners are pleasing, and well calculated 
to produce a favorable impression. Frank has been 
about the world a great deal, and has mingled in re- 
fined society not a little. It is his custom to visit 
New York almost every season, and sometimes he 
goes to Saratoga, Newport and Long Branch. 
Friends of Frank assume that he is in many respects 
a superior man to Jesse ; that he has more principle, 
and that there is far less of the desperado in 
his composition. He is cool, cautious, shrewd, and 
more manly than the other, and is not so reckless 
nor so revengeful in disposition. 

Frank James was susceptible to the blandishments 
of the fair sex in the days of his youth. In Ken- 
tucky, he came near being caught in the silken 
meshes spread by a beautiful young lady of the 
" Blue Grass " country, who had come to regard 
him as a hero, whose adventurous career she longed 
to share. X4 



226 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

But fate interposed for her sake, or against him. 
Frank found it for his interest to take his departure 
from Kentucky, and it was not convenient for him 
to return for two whole years. In the interim, an- 
other gallant was attracted to her side, and eventually 
won her affections, and the young lady was married. 

A story is told, by persons who claim to know 
much of Frank James' private affairs, about a love 
affair between that redoubtable outlaw and an heir- 
ess in New York. She was beautiful and accom- 
plished, and when she met the handsome and gen- 
tlemanly outlaw, who was not known in that charac- 
ter to her, she conceived an admiration for him 
which was fast ripening into affection. They rode 
together through the parks, and were soothed by 
the music of the waves, when the twilight and shad- 
ows fell, as together they strolled along the lonely 
shore. But circumstances over which she had no 
control summoned her away from the side of the 
Western adventurer, and they never met again. 

So the years passed away, and Frank James found 
one being long ago who inspired his heart with ten- 
derer dreams of love than any which had ever come 
to him before. For years the fair face, with its 
shadings of glossy brown hair, and eyes of deepest 
azure, glancing from beneath their long silken lashes, 
was imprinted on his mind and shrined in his heart. 
Frank James had met her many times, and no more 
touching story of woman's devotion has yet been 
toldj than th^t of the attachment of pretty Annie 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 22/ 

Ralston for Frank James, the bold border bandit. 
In time to come, the writers of the romance of the 
period covered by the career of the James Boys, 
will recall the name of the fair girl who became the 
outlaw's bride, and weave around it the choicest 
flowers of literature. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

FAIR ANNIE RALSTON, THE OUTLAW's BRIDE. 

** The loves and hopes of youthful hours, 

Though buried in oblivion deep, 
Like hidden threads in woven flowers, 

Upon life's web will start from sleep. 
And one loved face we sometimes find 

Pictured there with memories rife — 
A part of that mysterious mind 

Which forms the endless warp of life." 

Tny.RE are many people about the old town of 
Independence who cherish pleasant memories of fair 
Annie Ralston. There are many who knew and 
loved her long ago, who will not soon forget the 
beautiful face of the outlaw's bride. And long after 
those who knew her in the halcyon days of her inno- 
cent girlhood shall have passed to the quiet repose 
beneath the sod in ** the silent cities of the dead," 
her story will be repeated. Many a romance has 
been based on incidents in lives far less dramatic 
than has fallen to the fortune or the fate of Annie 
Ralston. The years which have rolled their cycles 
round to swell the measure of the greedy past, have 
not been so many that they have swallowed up the 
memories which cluster around the name of the gen- 
tle Annie, and bring sighs to the lips of those who 
but a few short winters ago conned with her the les- 

Z2& 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. ^29 

sons of the sages from the dreary pages of text 
books when they were schoolmates. 

People are not all ossified — brain, sense and heart, 
because God's Commentary on his written Revela- 
tion was given first — was handed down from a 
thousand Sinais, and strewed in green and golden 
shadowy lines through all the ages. It yet lives, 
and is, from under His own hand, above, around, 
beneath us ; and by it we may understand that holy 
mystery — how God is Love, and Love is God-like. 
And we feel, and know, that never again to us from 
out the shade of the years, can ministers of grace or 
glad ideals come, except through such sweet en- 
chantment. Who, then, will condemn gentle Annie 
Ralston, the pet of the class, the warm friend, the 
glad-hearted girl, if she proved at last to be — like all 
her sisters — human ? What circumstances conspired 
to induce her to become an outlaw's bride? If we 
could answer all the questions which might be asked 
concerning the emotions of the heart, the freaks of 
the mind, and other phenomena of human nature, 
and the structure of society, then might we be able 
to answer why fair Annie Ralston became the wife 
of Frank James, the proscribed enemy of society. 
But we cannot engage in such an undertaking. Her 
story is brief, but full of interest. 

Before the period of blighting war, which swept 
like a destructive tornado over the fairest portions of 
Western Missouri, Annie's father, Mr. Ralston, was 
a wealthy man. and his home was one of the most 



;230 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

pleasant to be found in the vicinity of Independence. 
He was a gentleman of culture and refinement, and 
his wealth gave him leisure to cultivate all the social 
graces. His hospitality was unbounded, and no man 
was more esteemed than Samuel Ralston. 

Annie was a ** wee girl " when the thunder peal of 
war burst in all its lurid terrors all around and about 
her. It was no period of sentimental dreaming, and 
she was early accustomed to see and hear of blood- 
shed and devastation. She must necessarily have 
grown familiar with scenes which, under ordinary 
circumstances, would have excited her terror, and 
she had learned to look unmoved on the bloody 
corpse of the battle's victim. But no storm can con- 
tinue forever; after the convulsion comes quiet; after 
the night dawns the day — so, at last, the war-cloud 
rolled away. Then commenced the work of collect- 
ing fragments of wrecked fortunes and rebuilding 
waste places. But some wrecks were complete, and 
no fragments remained. In a large measure this 
was the case with the life-barque in which Mr. Ral- 
ston sailed down the river of time. 

Annie grew with the passing years, and stood, as 
it were, " with reluctant feet on the boundary where 
childhood and womanhood meet." The residence 
of Mr. Ralston was convenient to the Independence 
Female College, and Annie became a student in that 
institution. She possessed excellent intellectual 
gifts, and in her course of study she led her classes. 
In due time the prescribed course of mental training 



f^RANK AND JESSE JAMES. 23 1 

was completed, and "at commencement," fair Annie 
carried away the hi^liest honors of her class. She 
was now a young lady, accomplished in " all the 
learning of the school." She sang delightfully, and 
could touch and cause to thrill with deepest har- 
mony, the chords of the harp and other instruments. 
She was a favorite in society at once. * 

And Annie Ralston was handsome — almost beau- 
tiful. Her complexion was fair and soft, her features 
regular and pleasing, her eyes were large and azure 
blue, and these soulful orbs looked out from curtains 
of long silken lashes of deep brown, that lent a 
charm to their expression, and her long brown 
tresses well completed this charming picture. And 
she possessed a symmetry of form and a graceful- 
ness of carriage which might well attract the admira- 
tion of those who knew her. 

But there came a time when a shadow fell athwart 
her pathway, and eclipsed this star in the social 
firmament. Annie's father had been ardent in his 
attachment to the Southern cause, and all who had 
contended in behalf of that cause were ever 
welcome to the hospitality of his home. He had 
suffered much from the consequences of the war, 
and perhaps more from the genial convivialities 
in which he indulged, and wliich had extended be- 
yond the bounds of propriety. Frank and Jesse 
James, with their confederates, became frequent 
visitors at the Ralston home. People saw them 
there often, and it was whispered softly at first, but 



i$2 LIFE AND AbVENttJkES 6P 

shouted aloud later, that pretty Annie Ralston was 
an attraction for the outlaws, and received from 
them, without rebuke, their openly-expressed admira- 
tion, and then her social star paled, and finally went 
out. Frank James became to her a hero worthy of 
her love — nay, her heart's deep adoration. She 
waited with impatience his coming, and when he was 
away, and she thought of the hazards which he 
might make, and the destruction which might over- 
take him, she grew faint through apprehension. To 
her, he was assiduous and gentle and kind, whatever 
might be his disposition toward others, and she gave 
her heart to him long before an opportunity was pre- 
sented to her to yield to him her hand. 

One bright day, in 1875, some friends who had 
known pretty Annie Ralston from the days of her 
childhood, met her at the Union Depot, Kansas 
City, with many valises and travelling bags in 
charge. "Would she go up in town? Could they 
render her any service ? " were questions which were 
asked. No, at another time she would go up town, 
there was nothing they could do for her. Soon she 
>.vas joined by her outlawed lover. Together they 
look a train and proceeded to Leavenworth, Kansas, 
where the vows which they had made to each other 
were renewed and sealed by legal authority, and 
fair Annie Ralston became the outlaw's bride, and 
with him she journeyed toward the yellow Southern 
sea, where the sunlight is warm and the breezes 
balmy. 



^RANlC ANb JESSE JAME§. ±^j 

It was a sacrifice to thus banish herself from that 
society in which she was so well fitted to shine as 
one of its brightest ornaments ; it was a trial to sur- 
render up the friends and associates of her girlhood ; 
to bid adieu to those who were near and dear to 
her ; it was heroic to cast herself upon the care of 
the man she loved. On the altar of her affection, 
therefore, she placed all the idols of her youth ; and 
in her devotion she proceeded to dig a wide, deep 
grave in which to bury forever the images which she 
had cherished. And so Annie Ralston became an 
outlaw's wife. 



CHAPTER XXX VL 

A SEVENTEEN THOUSAND DOLLAR HAUL. 

It had been some weeks since the people of the 
West had enjoyed a sensation growing out of the 
robbery of a train, or the plundering of a bank. 
Frank and Jesse James, and Cole, and Jim, and Bob 
Younger, with their merry companions, had been un- 
usually quiet for quite a long season for these restless 
rovers and adroit plunderers. The gang was in- 
creasing in numbers, and was now really formidable. 
Others as daring had joined themselves to the noted 
outlaws — the Jameses and the Youngers. Cal Car- 
ter from Texas, and Clell Miller, and Bill Chadwell, 
Charles Pitts, and Sam Bass, and Bill Longley, and 
the Hardins and the Moores of the Indian Territory 
and Texas divisions of the clan were frequently with 
Frank and Jesse James and the Younger Brothers. 
In the gang, but apparently merely as a subaltern, 
whose principal employment was to hold the horses 
of the chief robbers when business required them to 
dismount, was a young fellow who went by the name 
of Hobbs Kerry. 

Before Otterville, the protestations and denials of 
the Jameses and the Youngers were accepted by 
many good citizens, and there were numbers of very 
h ...rablc persons who believed sincerely that these 

234 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 2^$ 

men were sadly slandered. The express robbery at 
Rocky Cut, near Otterville, served to remove the 
scales from the eyes of numbers of these good peo- 
ple, and Frank and Jesse James, and the three 
Youngers were revealed before the public as most 
dangerous highwaymen. 

The principals in the Otterville affair were Frank 
James, his brother Jesse, Cole Younger, and his 
brother Bob, Clell Miller, Charlie Pitts, Bill Chad- 
well and Hobbs Kerry. These men concerted the 
project in Southwest Missouri, in the lead mining 
districts. Frequent interviews took place between 
Frank and Jesse James, and Cole and Bob Younger 
in regard to the feasibility of the undertaking. The 
Jameses were the original suggestors of the enter- 
prise, and from what information we have been able 
to gather, the Youngers did not at first entertain the 
suggestion favorably ; indeed, it was some time before 
it was finally agreed that the attempt should be 
made. Then the bandits discussed the route to be 
taken, and the place to be selected for the scene of 
this notable robbery, on the iron-highway. All 
these were settled in due time, and everything was 
ready to carry out their well-matured plan. 

Jesse James was the leader, the others merely 
acting in concert with him, and taking their places 
in accordance with his suggestions. 

The expedition left the scene of their plotting 
about the first day of July, 1876. 

Before leaving, the band separated into two par- 



236 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OP 

ties, Jesse and Frank James, Bill Chadwell and Bob 
Younger, composed one, and Cole Younger, Charlie 
Pitts, Clell Miller and Hobbs Kerry, made up the 
other. The journey through the country was made 
leisurely enough. The two parties travelled by dif- 
ferent routes, and had no difficulty in securing lodg- 
ing places. Sometimes they travelled in the night 
to make the distance to the house of a friend in good 
time the next day. 

On Sunday, July 3rd, there were four of the band- 
its at Duval's house. Tuesday a part of the band 
were in California, and after lingering about the place 
for a part of the day, they mounted their horses and 
rode to a house four miles north of the town, where 
four others of the robbers were stopping. A heavy 
rain came on that night, and so the robbers stayed 
nearly all of the day on the 5th, and remained dur- 
ing the night. There is no evidence that the people 
where they stayed had any knowledge of the char- 
acter of the persons whom they received under their 
roof. However, Jesse James and Cole Younger 
were acquainted with the gentleman, but not under 
their names. 

On the morning of the 6th, the raiders mounted 
their horses and rode west in pairs. The James Boys 
travelled together, Clell Miller and Hobbs Kerry rode 
by each other, Charlie Pitts and Coleman Younger 
formed a pair, and Bill Chadwell and Bob Younger 
followed another route in company. These all 
travelled different roads. 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 23/ 

The place of meeting previously agreed upon was 
a spot about two miles east from the bridge, across 
the Lamine river, and the time appointed was at 3 
o'clock Friday evening, July 8th. There were des- 
ignated stopping places on all the roads. The 
Jameses under assumed names were acquainted per- 
sonally with a number of very respectable people 
along the route travelled by them, and therefore had 
no difficulty in obtaining comfortable quarters and 
receiving a hospitable welcome. And so of the 
others of that band — "on mischief bent" — they all 
had good quarters on Thursday night, and as only 
two travelled together on a road, no suspicion was 
aroused on account of their presence. 

The robbers came by pairs to the rendezvous. 
They had all assembled by 4 o'clock in the evening. 
Some of them went without their dinners that day. 
Here the whole band remained until sundown on the 
evening of the 8th. 

The place selected was at a deep cut known as 
Rocky Cut, about four miles east of Otterville, in 
Pettis county, Missouri, on the line of the Missouri 
Pacific railroad. Three of the band. Bob Younger, 
Clell Miller and Charlie Pitts, were detailed to capture 
the watchman at the bridge. Bill Chadwell and 
Hobbs Kerry, it appears, were assigned the duty of 
taking care of the horses. A dense piece of timber 
land adjacent to a field was selected as the place of 
concealment. The express train bound east was due 
at that spot about 11 o'clock at night. Th^ 



238 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

robbers did not arrive at the designated rendezvous 
until some time after the curtains of night had been 
drawn over the scene. At a httle after 9 o'clock, 
Younger, Miller and Pitts went down to the bridge, 
and were hailed by the watchman. They were close 
upon him, and with drawn revolvers and fearful oaths 
they commanded him to surrender. The helpless 
watchman could not do otherwise. They took him 
in charge and secured his signal lanterns. 

"What are you going to do with me?" asked the 
astonished watchman. 

" You keep still," was the reply. 

"But you ain't going to hurt me?" he inquired. 

"What do we want to hurt you for? We want 
that money on the train, that's all we care for," was 
the reply he received. 

The whole party walked up the track to the mouth 
of the cut. It was about half past ten o'clock. A 
heap of rocks and a number of old cross ties were 
piled across the rails. Then the cunning brigands 
sat down quietly in the darkness to await the coming 
of the train. The horses of the robbers were about 
Ifty yards away ready to be bestridden, and fresh 
nough to make a long journey if that should be 
ecessary. Crouched there, they were silent as the 
broken fragments of rocks which lay scattered around 
them. They had not long to wait. A distant 
rumbling was heard, like the first low mutterings of 
thunder before the storm cloud appears. Then it 
grew louder and shriller like the raging wind. It was 
the train. 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 239 

The robbers were not asleep. Charlie Pitts had 
been detailed to display the red lantern — the danger 
signal — as the train came thundering around the 
curve into the cut. He performed his part of the 
programme well. Precisely at the right spot the 
train came to a standstill. The engineer had reversed 
his engine and put on the air brakes. 

Instantly the train was boarded by a number of 
masked men, said to have been twelve at least, all 
heavily armed. Guards were placed at each end of 
the cars, and the leader boarded the express car, 
compelled the messenger under threats of immediate 
death to open his safe, and then the contents were 
emptied out into a sack, and the car was thoroughly 
searched for valuable packages. The result was 
about ^17,000 were secured and carried away for the 
use and behoof of the robbers. 

The whole transaction was completed in less than 
an hour. The passengers were greatly alarmed dur- 
ing the time of the detention. The robbers stationed 
at the ends of the cars kept their revolvers bearing 
upon the passengers, and would not allow them to 
stir a finger under threats of death. Every moment 
they expected their turn to be robbed would come. 
But the robbers appeared to be satisfied with the 
amount realized from the plundering of the express 
car, and when they had accomplished that job thor- 
oughly, they released the train, sought their horses 
and rode away. Several shots were fired during the 
time the train was standing, for the purpose of keep- 
ing the passengers in a state Qf 3,Vdvm, 



240 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

The news was telegraphed from the next station tc 
St. Louis, Sedalia, Kansas City and other points. 
By this event the whole country was thoroughly 
excited. The detective forces of St. Louis, Kansas 
City, Chicago, and even the cities of the Atlantic 
seaboard were taken by surprise, and aroused to 
make efforts to capture them. The railroad and 
express companies offered large rewards, and the 
Governor of the state took measures to aid in the 
pursuit of the brigands. 

Meanwhile, the men who had created all this fu- 
rore of excitement rode through the darkness with 
their treasure bag. When "the first faint blush of 
dawn streaked the east," the plunderers of the ex- 
press car at Rocky Cut were twenty miles away and 
just turning off the main highway into the dim re- 
cesses of a large forest. 

After travelling more than a mile in the woods, the 
brigands came to an open space. Here they dis- 
mounted. Jesse James had the treasure bag. Dur- 
ing the journey, Frank James, Cole Younger and 
Charlie Pitts had relieved each other alternately in 
carrying the precious burden. Now they had reached 
a safe place, and the spoils of the adventure were 
about to be divided. Frank James acted as master 
of ceremonies on that occasion. Whether "the 
divide " was an equal one we are not advised, and 
perhaps we shall never know. The envelopes were 
torn from the express packages and tlie money di- 
vided into separate heaps, one of which was given to 
each of the men who had participated in the exploit 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 24 1 

The ceremony of dividing the money having been 
gone through with, and Jesse James, Cole Younger, 
Frank James and CharUe Pitts having parceled out 
the captured jewelry among themselves, the robbers 
remounted and separated into pairs, each pair select- 
ing the route which pleased them best. In the day 
time they rode in the woods and along by-paths; in 
the night they returned to the highways, and were 
soon secure from pursuit because they went at once 
among friends who, if they were acquainted with the 
character of their guests, " never gave away any- 
thing." 

An outrage of so daring a character was not slow 
in producing effects. The news had been flashed 
afar on the lis^htningr's track. The Chief of Police of 
St. Louis, the marshals and constables, and county 
sheriffs were aroused to unusual activity. The peo- 
ple everywhere were excited by an event of so sen- 
sational a character. A keen pursuit was inaugura- 
ted. Watchful eyes and open ears were in every 
town and hamlet throughout Missouri, and even in 
adjacent states. This time, it appeared, the robbers 
would be surely compelled to remain hidden far 
from the habitations of man. 

But secure in their retreats, the shrewd leaders of 
the raid, Jesse and Frank James, and Cole and Bob 
Younger and Charlie Pitts, laughed at the efforts of 
the officers of the law to capture them. They en- 
joyed reading the newspapers containing accounts 
of their daring feat, and made merry at what they 

^5 



242 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

were pleased to term " the stupid work of the d — d 
detectives." 

The robbers had one single thing on their minds 
which gave them some concern. The " cub " rob- 
ber, Hobbs Kerry, was scarcely shrewd enough to 
evade capture, and, they feared, not brave enough 
to withstand the pressure which they knew would 
be brought to bear upon him to " make him squeal 
on his associates." What if Kerry should fall into 
the hands of the hunters ? And was it not extremely 
probable that he would ? These were questions 
which they asked themselves, and in time they 
framed an answer in the form of another question, 
" What if he does? We don't know the fellow ?" 

We have said the passengers and trainmen were 
passive witnesses of the proceedings of the robbers. 
But there was one person on the train who was not 
afraid to resist. That individual was the train news- 
boy. Johnny, as he was called, had a small 
pistol, of a cheap grade, with which to defend him- 
self against all enemies, and robbers in particular. 
Now the opportunity had come to display the latent 
heroism which he knew he possessed. Johnny did 
not believe in being plundered, and, though his 
weapon was not very dangerous, he believed he 
could do some execution with it; at any rate, he 
could try. From the car window, where he had 
taken a position, he opened fire on the marauders. His 
first shot was ineffective, and the bandits derisively 
encouraged him to try again, when they discovered 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 243 

the youthful appearance and diminutive size of their 
assailant. Johnny took them at their word, and 
blazed away again. The robbers were well satisfied 
and good humored, and they laughed and jeered at 
the little hero who had exhibited so much courage. 
They told him he would do for a train-robber him- 
self when he was a little older. Johnny insisted for 
a time that he knew he had shot one of the robbers 
badly. 

Charlie Pitts, Bill Chadwell and Hobbs Kerry 
made a forced march to Southwest Missouri. Late 
Saturday night they forded Grand river. After go- 
ing a httle distance from the river, the three robbers 
dismounted, threw themselves on the ground, and 
slept soundly until morning. Here Kerry's horse 
which was well broken down, was abandoned. The 
saddle he hid in the brush in the Grand river bot- 
tom. Kerry at this point separated from Pitts and 
Chadwell, they remaining in the Grand river forests, 
while he proceeded to Montrose station, on the M. 
K. & T. railway. He had not long been there when 
a train bound south came along. He stepped on 
the car and went down to Fort Scott, Kansas. Find- 
ing a clothing store open, he purchased a good suit 
of clothes, which he donned at once. With valise 
in hand, he boldly entered a hotel, called for supper, 
which he partook of, and then proceeded on the 
train to Parsons, took lodgings there, where he re- 
mained until 4 o'clock next morning. From Vinita, 
to which he went from Parsons^ he proceeded to 



244 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

Granby, where he had " a good time with the boys." 
From Granby to Joplin, and from that place to 
Granby again, and then away down in the Indian 
Territory Hobbs Kerry went, without remaining 
very long at one place. Wherever he went he 
drank, and whenever he drank whisky he talked, 
and showed his money and boasted. He was lib- 
eral with the boys, had money for the faro dealer, 
and was for the time " a hale fellow well met " with 
all. But the eyes that were looking, and the ears 
that were listening, putting this and that together 
by an act of cogitation, concluded that Hobbs Kerry 
knew about the Rocky Cut business. 

It was not a mistake. The detectives "pulled" 
Kerry, and when he had time to reflect, he unfolded 
his mind, and told of his friends and their ride at 
night. He proved to be " a good peacher," as the 
police say, and whatever may be the slight incon- 
sistencies of his narrative of the Otterville affair, the 
events at Northfield, Minnesota, a few months later, 
confirm the truthfulness of Hobbs Kerry's story in 
all the main particulars. 

Of course the James Boys and their friends were 
swift to denounce Hobbs Kerry as a fraud, and his 
stories of the midnight ride and the flaring of the 
"danger signal " before the train, as pure fabrica- 
tions of a diseased or wicked brain. 

Meanwhile, the Jameses and Youngers had not 
gone far away. The former found friends and a safe 
retreat in the eastern part of Jackson county, and 



FkANfe AND JESSE JAMES. Ml 

the latter retired to St. Clair county, where they 
rested in contentment for a season. The Jameses 
have friends yet in a certain neighborhood in that 
section of Jackson county — men and women — who, 
despite their known character, and the edict of out- 
lawry against them, would receive them into their 
houses and treat them not only with ordinary hos- 
pitality, but with marked consideration. 



CHAPTER XXXVn. 

IN MINNESOTA. 

Hitherto the brigands, led by the Jameses and 
the Youngers, had only committed outrages in those 
countries with the physical features of which they 
were well acquainted. They had ridden through 
Missouri, Arkansas, Texas and Kentucky, and Iowa 
was not so far away from their haunts in Clay 
county that they could not reasonably hope to re- 
treat to their hiding places. The list of outrages 
already committed by them was extravagantly long. 
Commencing at Russellville, Kentucky, they had 
ransacked bank safes at Gallatin, Corydon, Iowa, 
Columbia, Kentucky, Ste. Genevieve, Mo., Hunting- 
ton, West Virginia, and a section of the band had 
paid a visit to, and plundered the bank at Corinth, 
Mississippi. They had stopped trains in Kansas, 
Wyoming, Iowa and Missouri, and they had plun- 
dered stages in Arkansas, Texas and Kansas. But 
over the whole territory intervening between the 
widely separated scenes of their depredations, they 
had often travelled and were perfectly familiar with 
the topography of the country, and had friends in 
many places. 

Having achieved such remarkable success in their 

nefarious calling, the brigand chiefs were emboldened 

246 



ITRANK AND JESSE JAMES. ^4^ 

to enter upon new enterprises, and seek new fields 
for the exercise of their prowess and genius. They 
agreed to go beyond the borders of their accustomed 
field of operations. 

After Otterville, a part of the gang went into St. 
Clair county, and the other members of the banditti 
proceeded to Clay county, to the vicinity of Kear- 
ney, where resided the mother of Frank and Jesse 
James, Mrs. Zerelda Samuels. That person was 
always true to the interests of her sons, and under 
no circumstances did she ever desert their cause or 
betray their designs. Mrs. Samuels was a very use- 
ful ally of Frank and Jesse, and when hard pressed 
in other quarters, they were always sure of a safe re- 
treat and succor in the vicinity of the Samuels 
house. 

The successful robbery accomplished at Otterville, 
had created a profound sensation throughout the 
southwest, and the law abiding citizens were vigilant 
and suspicious, and it was not a pleasant time to 
travel in any direction where the least possible sus- 
picion in regard to the character of the traveller was 
once aroused. Therefore, the robbers of the train 
at Otterville sought their hiding places and remained 
quiet for a time. 

But idleness under such circumstances became ex- 
tremely irksome to the free riders, accustomed as 
they were to a life of activity and exciting adven- 
ture. The division of the band from St. Clair 
county, journeyed into Clay county, Missouri, and 



248 LIFE AND ADVENTURES 6f 

then began a series of conferences in regard to the 
next campaign which they contemplated inaugurat- 
ing. 

These consultations between the leaders of the 
banditti were held in a thick forest near the residence 
of Mrs. Samuels. The result of the deliberations 
was the development of a plan to pay a visit to 
Minnesota, and raid some bank there, the exact 
place of its situation to be determined when they 
should have arrived in that state. 

Who originated the scheme is a question which, in 
all human probability, will forever remain unan- 
swered. The credit of the project has been often 
given to Jesse James. Whether or not he originated 
it, we have good reason to know that he was one of 
the parties who went to Northfield, and in all proba- 
bility he was the leader of the band. 

Be that as it may, a plan was concocted to pay a 
visit to Minnesota, and plunder as many of the banks 
in that state as possible before the beginning of win- 
ter, and then retire to winter quarters on the Texas 
and Mexican frontiers. The general plans were 
finally agreed upon, and about the middle of Aug- 
ust, 1876, the bandit camp in the vicinity of the 
Samuels house was broken up, and the brigands, 
separating in couples, commenced their long ride 
through the country to the flourishing villages of 
Minnesota. 

The party which left Clay county was composed 
of Frank and Jesse James ; Coleman, Robert and 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. ^49 

James Younger; Clell Miller, Bill Chadwell and 
Charlie Pitts. It is related, on what appears excel- 
lent authority, that Cole Younger and Bill Chadwell 
preceded the other members of the gang, to fix upon 
a suitable rendezvous. Near Mankato, Bill Chad- 
well had "a friend," a man who had often before 
rendered him substantial service. Preconcerted 
" signs " of the route to be taken by the main body 
of the bandits had been left by the advance guard, 
Cole Younger and Bill Chadwell. The final rendez- 
vous selected by these leaders was at Mankato, 
and the whole band then proceeded to Chadwell's 
friend's resting place, where their final councils were 
held. 

A gentleman of the highest respectability, well 
known in Central Missouri, who is in a position to 
be informed, assures us that Cole Younger did not 
favor an attack on the bank at Northfield; indeed, 
that he was opposed to raiding any bank in Minne- 
sota, but that he was overruled in his judgment by 
the other members of the gang. It is said that Cole 
favored a movement into Canada, where the pros- 
pects for a large haul were believed to be very much 
better. But whatever might have been his wishes, 
the other members of the band did not accede to 
them, and, after due consideration, it was deter- 
mined to strike a Minnesota bank. Cole Younger 
was too far committed to recede, and so he submit- 
ted to the will of the majority, and was among 
the law's victims after Northfield. 



250 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

Bill Chadwell was for many years a border rough 
and horse-thief in Minnesota. He had committed 
depredations in many parts of that state, and was 
perfectly familiar with the geography and topogra- 
phy of the country. With a vast number of the dis- 
honest and rough class in that state, he was on terms 
of intimate personal acquaintance. To him, as a 
guide, the other members of the brigand company 
looked with confidence to lead them successfully 
to a handsome deposit of spoils, and away from pur- 
suers and pursuit. Chadwell's friends were relied 
upon to afford them succor in the hour of need, and 
Chadwell's skill inspired them with hopes of great 
gains, at a small sacrifice of time and little risk of 
danger. 

All these things had been discussed, and the plans 
of the gang were well matured before the departure 
from Clay county. It was a long expedition, and 
the principal members of the company were unfa- 
miliar with the country into which they journeyed. 
They based their hopes of success on the conditions 
which at that time existed in Minnesota. It was at 
that season of the year when the grain growers were 
disposing of their crops; when it was supposed 
grain buyers and shippers would have their heaviest 
deposits in bank, and when the farmers were ** in 
funds," which the robbers doubted not would be 
placed in the country banks for safe-keeping. 
Moreover, they reasoned that inasmuch as the peo- 
ple of Minnesota were unacquainted with their bold 



t-RANK AND JESSE JAMES. 2$! 

methods, that, as usual, when they made an onset, 
the customary panic would ensue, and the risk taken 
would be small. 

Thus the preliminaries of the celebrated raid into 
Northfield were settled. Never before had this gang 
of desperadoes failed in accomplishing their object, 
and when the last council was held, and it was settled 
that Northfield should be the objective point of their 
great raid into Mmnesota, "the signs" were propi- 
tious, and the superstitious element in the character 
of the outlaws rested satisfied. 

The remainder of the band divided into couples. 
Jesse and Frank James, as usual, travelled the road 
in company. Bob Younger and Charlie Pitts went 
together, and James Younger and Clell Miller bore 
each other company by the way. These separate 
detachments travelled different roads, and kept a 
good lookout for favorable places for concealment in 
case of necessity, and they also noted the character- 
istics of the surface of the country over which they 
passed. 

Previous to leaving Missouri, Jesse James wrote, 
or caused to be written, two letters for publica- 
tion in the Kansas City Times, denying the charge 
of complicity in the Otter ville robbery, and de- 
nouncing the statement of Hobbs Kerry as " a vil- 
lainous pack of lies." These letters were printed, 
and lead to the belief that the Jameses were still in 
Missouri. The latest one of these letters was dated 
*'Safe Retreat, August 1 8th, 1876," and appeared in 
the Kansas City Times August 23d, 1876. 



252 LIFE ANiD ADVENTURES OF 

Divided as they were, their passage through the 
country excited no coiiiment. They travelled as re- 
spectable persons might have travelled. In the 
evenings they would put up at a respectable village 
inn, or country farm-house, and in the mornings they 
paid for their accommodations as any other reputa- 
ble citizens might have done. They did not hurry, 
because they did not want to break down their 
horses. The distance was great, and they were 
many days on the road. It was about the 1st of 
September, 1876, when the whole band had arrived 
in the neighborhood of Mankato. Their advance 
agents, having found a suitable place for a rendez- 
vous at the house of Chadwell's friend, met their 
comrades, and, without exciting suspicion among 
the people, they directed the various detachments to 
the designated place of meeting. 

The robbers were now in Minnesota, but as yet 
they had not determined which of more than half a 
dozen banks they would rob. First, the claims of 
some one of the three banks doing business in Man- 
kato to the distinction were considered. But the 
proposition to rob any one of them met with little 
consideration in the council of the brigands. They 
reasoned that three banks in such a place would 
naturally cause the business and investment funds of 
the community to be divided into three parts, no one 
of which could be very large, and as they ** played 
for high stakes" at a great risk, they concluded to 
let Mankato banks alone. Then they considered 



FRANK A.ND JESSE JAMES. 253 

the claims of the bai.k at St. Peter to be plundered. 
But there was not enough business done in the place, 
and it was not surrounded by a community deemed 
wealthy, and the brigands concluded to pass St. 
Peter, believing that they would not get a large haul 
in case they should raid the place. Several other 
banks were considered, and the probabilities as to the 
amount of treasure likely to be obtained were all 
considered. Finally, indications pointed to the 
bank of Northfield as probably richer in the 
treasures contained in its vaults than any other in 
that region of Minnesota. 

Northfield, the place selected by the desperadoes 
as the scene of their attempt at plundering, is a 
flourishing town on the line of the Milwaukee and 
St. Paul railroad, situated in the northeast corner of 
Rice county, Minnesota. The town is compactly 
built, and contains a population of about 2,000 
souls. The country around Northfield is very pro- 
ductive, and there is considerable activity in com- 
mercial pursuits in the village. The bank building 
is situated in the very center of the business portion 
of the town. At the time the raid was made a large 
sum of money had accumulated in the vault of the 
institution. But Northfield happened to be peopled 
by a hardy and courageous race of pioneers who 
were not made of the material to submit with a good 
grace to be plundered by strange outlaws from 
another state. 

But the leaders of the brigands had selected 



254 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

Northfield, and it only remained to fix upon a time 
when the attempt should be made. That time was 
set for the afternoon of September 7th, 1876. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

THE ATTACK AT NORTHFIELD — HAYWOOD's DEATH. 

Sometime before noon on the 7th of September, 
four well mounted and well armed men approached 
Northfield from the north. They did not at once 
enter the town, but remained on that side of the 
bridge in the suburbs for the advance of the other 
division of the band, which came via Dundas, a small 
station on the line of the railway about four miles 
south of Northfield. The brigands from Dundas 
were Cole and James Younger, Bill Chadwell and 
Clell Miller. On the north side were Frank and 
Jesse James, Charlie Pitts and Robert Younger. 
About 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Cole Younger and 
his party appeared, then the brigands rode into 
town and directly to the bank, the exact position of 
which had been before ascertained. Jesse and Frank 
James and Cole Younger dismounted and entered 
the bank. The brigands had entered the town at a 
full charge, shouting at the top of their voices and 
firing off their pistols as they rode. The inhabitants 
were taken by surprise, but were not at all panic- 
stricken. The movement on the bank was noted, 
and its object at once comprehended. 

The three leading brigands who had entered the 
bank proceeded to business at once. They sprang 

255 ■ = . 



256 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

over the counter and confronted the surprised cash- 
ier, Mr. J. L. Haywood, with a huge knife, which they 
placed at his throat, and ordered him to open the 
safe, threatening him with instant death in case he 
refused. The knife had already marked his throat, 
but the brave cashier refused to comply with their 
demands. Again with fearful threats the command 
was repeated. But Haywood still persisted in his 
refusal, when one of them, now generally believed 
to have been Jesse James, placed the muzzle of his 
pistol to Haywood's right temple, and fired. The 
cashier fell, and expired ere he had touched the 
floor. Besides the cashier, there were Mr. A. E. 
Bunker, assistant cashier, and Mr. Frank Wilcox, 
clerk. These were ordered to hold up their hands 
when the robbers first entered. Of course, under 
the circumstances, they could not do otherwise than 
to obey. After Haywood fell they turned to Mr. 
Bunker and ordered him to open the vault. That 
gentleman declared that he did not know the com- 
bination. Then they thrust a pistol into his face 
and made other threatening demonstrations. Mr. 
Bunker, acting under an impulse to preserve his own 
life, fljd out through the back door. As he ran, the 
robbers fired at him, the ball taking effect in his 
shoulder. They seem not to have paid any further 
attention to Mr. Wilcox, but occupied the remainder 
of the brief time allowed them in efforts to find the 
cashier's money drawer. The nickel drawer was 
found, and they scattered the contents of that over 
the floor. 



FRANK ANIJ JESSE JAMES. 2$/ 

Meanwhile, an exciting scene was transpiring in 
the street in front of the bank building. A Mr. 
Wheeler, a young gentleman who occupied a sec- 
ond-story room in a building opposite, happened to 
possess a gun. Seizing this weapon, he took delib- 
erate aim and fired. The ball took effect, and Char- 
lie Pitts, a notorious Texas desperado, fell from hi? 
horse, shot through the heart. The shots fired by 
the brigands who had remained on the street did not 
have the desired effect in intimidating the citizens of 
Northfield. In a few moments many citizens who 
had seized guns and pistols, and whatever other 
weapons came in their way, were rushing toward the 
bank. Mr. Wheeler having been so successful in his 
first shot, fired a second time, and Bill Chadwell fell, 
mortally wounded, from his horse. By this time 
others were firing from windows, and one of the 
horses was struck and fell dead. Another horse 
which had been ridden by Charlie Pitts ran through 
the street. Another one of the band was struck by 
a bullet, but managed to keep his place. 

The situation was desperate. The leaders in the 
bank had not succeeded in getting anything, when 
the events happening in the street admonished them 
that their only salvation was in immediate flight. 
They rushed out of the bank, mounted their horses, 
and the six living bandits galloped away. Indeed, 
there was need that they should. Already a band 
of fifty citizens, well mounted and well armed, were 
nearly ready to take the road in pursuit. At the 

i6 



258 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

head of this party rode Wheeler, who had already 
proved himself to be cool and daring. 

The flight of the discomfitted robbers was rapid. 
These free riders would never mount an inferior 
horse. But chances for escape were very few. The 
robbery, or rather, bold attempt at robbery, and es- 
pecially the death of Mr. Haywood, a gentleman 
held in the very highest esteem b}^ the community at 
Northfield, had created a state of feeling in the pub- 
he mind which would not allow the people to rest 
satisfied until the murderers were either captured or 
killed. In less than twenty-four hours the whole re- 
gion about was notified of the occurrence at North- 
field, and not less than four hundred well armed and 
well mounted men were in hot pursuit of the six sur- 
viving brigands. 

The excitement occasioned by the events at 
Northfield was at fever heat. Efforts to capture the 
outlaws were further stimulated by the proclamation 
of Governor Pillsbury offering a reward of ;^ 1,000 
for the apprehension of each of the robbers, or ^6,000 
for the capture of the survivors of the band. 

The bandits fled in a southwestern direction, to- 
ward the little hamlet of Shieldsville, situated about 20 
miles on an air line, southwest from the scene of the 
tragedy at Northfield. The route taken by the rob- 
bers niade the distance more than twenty-five miles ; 
yet they were at Shit:ldsville before dark. They 
passed straight tli rough the place and made no con- 
cealment of their identity. Shieldsville is a small 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 259 

post village, containing a population of no more 
than 175 souls. As they passed through the village, 
they shouted to the citizens who were on the streets 
to get into their houses, and they made such dem- 
onstrations by firing off their pistols that the people 
were greatly alarmed. The pursuers meanwhile 
were gathering about them. Sheriff Davis and posse 
were behind them ; Sheriff Estes and posse were 
before them, and there were officers and armed citi- 
zens to the right and to the left of them. Their sit- 
uation became extremely critical after leaving 
Shieldsville. 

But the indomitable courage of the bandits seemed 
for a time to promise them a final escape. 

From Shieldsville the bandits travelled in a west- 
erly direction toward Kilkenny, a post town and rail- 
way station in Le Sueur county. They were now 
avoiding the towns and travelled highways, and 
keeping in the forest, and travelling through the 
farms. All the crossing places on the streams were 
guarded by armed citizens. The guards at the ford 
on French creek became alarmed at the approach of 
the bandits and fled, so that they met no resistance 
at the crossing place. They remained one night for 
rest in a large forest near Kilkenny. The next 
morning they crossed the ford at Little Canyon. 
They pressed on toward the west. The route was 
beset with difficulties and dangers for them. They 
were anxious to reach the borderland, the frontier 
region, where men are few and wild. 



260 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

There was no rest for them. It was at length 
necessary for them to abandon their horses. They 
had camped in the depths of a great forest. The 
officials had taken to the by-paths and scoured the 
woods in search of them. Leaving their horses and 
some of their heavier clothing, they trudged on foot, 
skulking among the thickets. Their progress was 
slow. One day they camped on a sort of a penin- 
sula, about half a mile from a church. They were 
now thoroughly exhausted. Their diet had been 
green corn, potatoes and watermelons for several 
days, and they had been constantly on the move. 
Here a stray calf came along and they shot it in the 
head, but the calf did not fall, on the contrary, it ran 
away. A small pig passed by their camp, and one 
of them shot him in the head. But the pig refused 
to succumb, and ran away. 

After leaving their isolated camp in the evening, 
foot-sore and worn out by reason of the anxiety and 
fatigue, they pushed forward in a more southerly di- 
rection, leaving Cleveland and the forest where they 
had abandoned their horses to the right. At midnight 
they had reached Marysburg, a small post village in 
the southern part of Le Sueur county. Finding a 
convenient hiding place they kindled a fire, and had 
a meal of roasted potatoes and corn. The village 
clock struck six. They heard the bell and judged 
themselves to be about a mile from the town. They 
left the Marysburg camp somewhat refreshed, and 
with buoyant hope of an ultimate escape from im- 



Frank and jesse james. 261 

pending peril. Thus far they had eluded their pur- 
suers. Their route from Marysburg lay southwest- 
ward through Blue Earth county, to Mankato. 
They made good headway during the day, and late 
in the evening they found a nice hiding place in a 
thicket in a cornfield, and lay very quiet without 
making a fire. Twice during the night they were 
alarmed by persons passing near them. Their hiding 
place happened to be near a neighborhood path 
which ran through the fields. 

Six days after the affair at Northfield, when the 
worn robbers were struggling along through a great 
forest near Shaubut's, a few miles in a northeasterly 
direction from Mankato, they came suddenly upon a 
man named Dunning, who was one of a posse of 
citizens in pursuit of them. They at once captured 
this man, and a question arose as to the course to be 
taken with him. At once it was suggested by some 
one of the band to bind him fast to a tree and so 
leave him. Dunning pleaded hard for his life, and 
to be spared the terrible ordeal of such an uncer- 
tainty as that of being left bound in that great forest. 
It might be days before he would be discovered, and 
it might be that no human being would pass that way 
until he would be starved. Finally, from motives of 
humanity, as they claim, they administered to Dun- 
ning the most terrible oaths that he would not say 
one word about having seen them until they had 
ample time allowed to get out of the country alto- 
gether. Dunning gladly consented to take upon 



262 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

himself these solemn obligations, and they let him 
go. The released citizen sought the haunts of men 
and made haste to communicate to others all the 
particulars of his adventure with the robbers in the 
woods; and then the pursuit was renewed with new 
ardor and zeal. At midnight, six days after North- 
field, the weary bandits trudged through Mankato in 
a very different plight from that in which they had 
made their entry into the place but a little more than 
a week before. As they approached the town with 
which they had made themselves familiar as they 
went to Northfield, they were alarmed by the 
shrill whistle of the oil mill. They concluded 
that their approach had been noted, and the 
steam whistle was the signal agreed upon to 
call the citizens together in case the approach 
of the robbers was noted. They therefore timed 
aside from the main streets, and sought the lanes 
and alleys back of the oil-mill. Here they hid 
awhile, but as there did not seem to be any move- 
ment among the citizens, they stealthily passed on, 
across the bridge. The guards had retired, or were 
not disposed to attack the six desperadoes. At any 
rate, they were not interrupted. After crossing, 
they raided a field of watermelons, selected four 
large ones, and under the deep shade of the trees, 
at the hour of one o'clock, they had a feast on the 
melons. They visited a house near by and got one 
spring chicken, and would have secured more had 
time been allowed. But they heard a great shout- 



ii-RANK AND JESSE JAMES. 263 

ing of people, and saw one man lookin^^ for tracks. 
They fled at once up a bank, and pushed forward 
through the woods bordering the Blue Earth river. 
During the day they crossed that stream. 

'It was on the day after they passed Mankato that 
Frank and Jesse James, who appeared to have suf- 
fered less from the fatigue and exposure than the 
others, bid a last adieu to their comrades in the ill- 
starred Northfield enterprise. Only Cole Younger 
and his brothers, Jim and Bob, and Clell Miller, 
were left. The pursuers struck the trail of the 
Jameses, and these desperadoes now had a terrible 
time in eluding those who sought them. They were 
repeatedly fired upon, and were both wounded 
severely several times. 

The four men left in the Blue Earth river forest 
struggled on toward the west. They had passed 
through the county of Blue Earth, and entered 
Watonwan county, full seventy-five miles on a straight 
line from Northfield, and a hundred and twenty-five 
miles by the route they had travelled. They had 
reached the swamps bordering the Watonwan river. 
They had been now exposed to untold hardships 
from the afternoon of the 7th of September to the 
2 1 St of the same month, a period of fourteen days. 
They had subsisted on green corn, potatoes and 
melons for the most part during that whole time. 
They had had but little sleep, and had been con- 
stantly harassed by their pursuers. For nine days 
and nights they had been compelled to walk through 



264 LIFE AND ADVENTURES Ot 

forests and thickets, and their clothes had been lit- 
erally picked from their bodies by the thorns and 
brambles through which they had struggled. Their 
feet were in a most terrible condition. But their 
pursuers still followed them with a grim resolve that 
nothing could equal. 

On the afternoon of the 21st, Sheriff McDonald, 
of Sioux City, having tracked the brigands to a 
swamp a few miles from Madelia, the county seat of 
Watonwan county, Minnesota, the final struggle 
commenced. The sheriff's forces had surrounded 
the swamp where the brigands lay concealed. The 
armed citizens then began to close in upon the sur- 
rounded men, keeping up a continuous fire as they 
advanced. The bandits were not the men to yield, 
even to a superior force, without making a desper- 
ate resistance. 

One of the sheriff's men was severely and another 
was slightly wounded as they closed in upon the 
wearied but still determined men. The continuous 
volleys poured into the thicket where the bandits 
had concealed themselves were not without effect. 
First, Clell Miller fell, moaned once, and then his 
lips became mute forever. A heavy rifle ball then 
crashed through Jim Younger's jaw, shattering the 
lower jawbone in a most frightful manner. Cole 
Younger received seven wounds, and Bob was shot 
in the right elbow. They fought desperately, but 
what could four men do ? Sheriff McDonald com- 
manded a hundred an i fifty courageous men, whose 



FRANK AND JESSE jAMfeS. 265 

lives had been spent on the frontiers. Resistance 
could no longer be offered, when one of their num- 
ber had fallen, and the other three were wounded, 
two of them nigh unto death. It was the last strug- 
gle of four as daring and dangerous men as ever 
rode over the Western prairies. When resistance 
had ceased, the sheriff's men gathered around them. 
They were prisoners; their last hour of freedom had 
expired. They were placed in spring-wagons and 
carried into Madelia. The people of the whole sur- 
rounding regions came flocking into the town to see 
the renowned outlaws, for they had confessed that 
they were the Younger Brothers, whose fame as dar- 
ing free-booters had already been extended over the 
entire country. 

In a few days the wounded robbers — Cole, Jim 
and Bob Younger — were carried to Faribault, the 
county seat of Rice county. They were closely 
guarded, as well to prevent excited citizens taking 
the law into their own hands as to insure the safe 
custody of the bandits. The body of Clell Miller 
was conveyed to St. Paul to be embalmed. 

While confined at Faribault, the Youngers re- 
ceived every attention, and rapidly recovered from 
the effects of their long exposure and the terrible 
wounds which they had received. During this time 
a strong guard was maintained about their prison. 

Early in October, the Rice County Circuit Court 
met at Faribault, and Thomas Coleman, Jam'.'S and 
Robert Ewing Younger were arraign^id at the bar to 



266 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

plead to an indictment for murder in the first degree, 
and for conspiring to commit murder and robbery. 
Advised by counsel that under the laws of the state 
the death penalty could not be inflicted in cases 
when the parties charged entered the plea of guilty, 
the three brothers plead guilty, and were sentenced 
to the penitentiary at Stillwater for the terms of their 
natural lives. A few days afterward they were re- 
moved to their life-time place of abode, and the 
stormy career of the Youngers closed. Since their 
incarceration, it is understood that Jim Younger has 
died. Cole and Bob, in their dreary isolation, still 
survive, without hope of breathing the air of freedom 
again. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

ESCAPE OF FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 

The most formidable band of robbers in this 
country had suffered terribly in consequence of the 
raid on Northfield. Charlie Pitts, Bill Chadwell and 
Clell Miller — the last-named a formidable law- 
breaker, who was raised in Clay county — had lost 
their lives. Cole, Jim and Bob Younger had been 
captured. Jesse and Frank James were still free, 
but numerous officers of the law were on their trail. 

When the Jameses left the Youngers in the Blue 
Earth river bottom, they were on foot. The Young- 
ers and Miller had entrusted to them their watches 
and jewelry and most of their money, believing that 
there was a possibility for the Jameses to escape. 
The departure of Frank and Jesse created a diver- 
sion in favor of the Youngers and Miller. The 
bands of armed citizens followed the Jameses. For 
two days and nights the brothers travelled west- 
ward, their footsteps constantly dogged by wary 
citizens. The hardships through which they were 
passing were almost incredible. The men were 
sometimes almost completely surrounded by the 
citizens. 

Three days after they had separated from their 
comrades, they came to a wilderness region, where 
267 



26^ LIFE AND ADVENTURES OP 

the timber was heavy and the underbrush thick. 
Here they proposed to rest for a season. But they 
were tracked to their hiding place, and fired upon 
by a band of pursuers. Frank James received a 
wound in the hip. The brush was so tiiick that the 
pursuers, who were on horseback, could make no 
headway, and three of them dismounted to continue 
the chase on foot. The direction taken by the 
hunted men led to a swamp, but the season beine 
dry, there was but little mud in the basin. The 
bushes were close together, and aquatic plants were 
high. The three men seemed resolved to close up 
with them. Several times the hunted bandits could 
have killed the citizens, but for the fact that their 
ammunition was giving out, and they desired to take 
care of what remained for the last emergency. It 
was getting late ; the sun was low in the west, and 
the shadows were deepening in the forest. The 
three pursuers were determinedly following them. 
Once or twice the hunted men were tempted to turn 
and try the issues with their foes. 

But they kept on. Just when daylight faded 
away, they emerged from the swamp, and found 
themselves in a travelled highway. They had lost 
their determined foes in the darkness of the sombre 
swamp behind them. They started down the road, 
which lay along the bank of a stream of considera- 
ble size. Wearied into a state of exhaustion, they 
hoped to find a snug place where they could rest 
and tike some food. But their trials were not yet at 



FRAxXK AND JESSE JAMES. 269 

an end. In the lonely depths of the forest, with the 
dark, still river on one side, and the timbered wilder- 
ness on the other, they heard the ominous sounds of 
horses' hoofs. They listened. There were horse- 
men behind and before them. In another moment, 
sounds came from the woods, which indicated that 
they were being surrounded. 

The wearied freebooters quickly stepped into the 
deep shadow of a great tree which stood upon the 
bank of the stream, to await further developments. 
That the horsemen were gradually closing around 
them they were speedily convinced. Their situation 
was critical. What could be done ? The stream be- 
low them was evidently deep and dangerous to ford. 
Their plans were quickly formed and consummated. 
They quietly dropped down the bank to the margin 
of the stream, which at that place flowed close by 
an abrupt bank. " They were there by that tree 
but a moment ago," they heard one man remark, as 
a party came up to the spot where the outlaws 
had stood but a moment before. It was evident 
that their numbers must exceed twenty. Stealthily 
the hunted brothers moved down the stream along 
the margin of the water, and close up under the 
overhanging bank. They heard their pursuers dis- 
cuss the situation. " They are still near at hand, no 
doubt," the brothers heard one remark. Then the 
movements indicated that they were preparing for a 
more careful examinalij>n of the situation where they 
were. Soon several men came riding down the 



2/0 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

road just over their heads. They had reached a 
place where the river runs under a shelving bank 
and the brothers could go no further without taking 
to the water. Four men came down the bank 
above, and came toward them. The brothers were 
constrained to take to the stream. The water was 
about two feet deep. They clung close to the bank, 
and silently reached a place they deemed safe, in a 
cave-lil:e excavation made by the water under the 
roots of a great tree. The hunters came to the 
place where the bank and the waters met, and, ap- 
parently satisfied, they turned and went back. The 
brothers heard the clash of horses' feet on a bridge 
below, and then they knew that the crossing below 
was guarded. After a time all became still around 
them. They concluded to swim or wade the river 
from the point where they were, and, once on the 
opposite side, to strike through the country. 
Silently as possible, without any splashing, they 
came from their place of concealment and waded 
out into the stream until they were compelled to 
swim. The night was quite dark, and they passed 
over without being discovered. Climbing the oppo- 
site bank, they found themselves in an open wood. 
With all the haste which they could make, they pro- 
ceeded westward. A mile away they came to a 
cornfield, and in the field there was a thicket. Here 
they found a hiding-place, and, as wet as they were, 
they partook of a repast of green corn, and lying 
down on the grass, they slept soundly until the sun 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 2/1 

was up. Waiting some time in a sunny place until 
their clothing had partly dried, the brothers started 
on their weary way. All day they travelled without 
being molested. In the evening, while travelling 
along a country road, they met a man leading two 
horses, one of which was saddled. They spoke to 
him, and from his manner and the answers he made 
them, they were convinced that he had not heard 
anything about the affair at Northfield. They asked 
him if he would like to sell the horses he was lead- 
ing. He answered that it was his business to deal 
in horse-flesh. What would he take for the pair ? 
The man named the price, and, after some banter- 
ing, a trade was effected, and even the saddle on 
which he rode was transferred, the horse-trader de- 
claring that he did not own anything which he would 
not sell. 

Jesse and Frank James were once more mounted. 
They stopped at a cabin in a lonely locaHty and 
asked for supper. A woman and two children were 
apparently the only inmates. They learned from 
her that her husband had been summoned to help 
catch a gang of horse-thieves, and had not been 
home for three days. Frank carefully concealed his 
wound, and the woman quickly prepared a good 
supper for them, and, after settling with her, they 
mounted and rode away. 

The brothers rode all night, and as their horses 
were fresh and good travellers, they traversed many 
miles. They h^d already begun to congratulate 



2/2 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

themselves on their escape, when one day when they 
were in the neighborhood of a town on the western 
border of Iowa, they were fiercely attacked by seven 
men, all well armed, but, fortunately for the outlaw 
brothers, not very well mounted. A running fight 
ensued, and Frank received a desperate wound. 
But the good fortune which had so often attended 
them came to their aid, and in the darkness of the 
night they rode far away, and in the morning reached 
a house where the services of a physician were se- 
cured, who dressed Frank's wounds. The physician 
was afterward arrested, but no evidence of his hav- 
ing knowledge of the character of his patient was 
produced, and he was discharged. 

The brothers had reached the borders of Nebraska. 
Jesse had a " friend " somewhere on the confines of 
that state, and they proceeded to his pkce by easy 
stages. Here they rested for some days while 
Frank's wounds were attended to by a physician. 
But the news of Northfield had reached there, and 
suspicions of their friend and his strange guests 
were aroused. It was deemed best to take an early 
departure. An ambulance was procured. One of 
the horses was disposed of, and the boys by easy 
stages drove into Kansas. Their horse and ambu- 
lance was disposed of there. At a station not a 
thousand miles west of Kansas City they took the 
cars, and were transported to Texas. At Waco, 
Frank was placed under the care of a physician, and 
nursed until restored to health again. 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 2/3 

Thus was terminated one of the most remarkable 
escapes from capture ever recorded. None other 
than men of very superior genius could have suc- 
ceeded. As it is, the exploit is one of marvelous 
adroitness, one which cannot fail to excite our 
admiration. 



17 



CHAPTER XL. 

A VISIT TO CARMEN. 

After Northfield, Missouri was deemed an un- 
suitable field for operations by the James Boys. 
Nor did it afford a safe place of retirement for per- 
sons who had engaged in such a desperate warfare 
against the established order of society. But they 
were accustomed to make long expeditions, and 
they were at home anywhere. The shelter of a rock 
sufficed for them in the wintry nights, and the 
branches of a tree, with their spreading leaves, fur- 
nished roof enough for them when the summer 
nights came. Far away, in that region of the great 
state of Texas known for many years as the Terri- 
tory of Bexar, where a beautiful stream flows down 
from the rugged mountains toward the west, to unite 
with the Rio Pecos, Jesse and Frank had established 
a retreat which they called Rest Ranche. It is many 
miles east of Fort Quitman, and a long way from 
San Estevan. To the west there are rugged hills 
and low mountains, covered with chaparral almost 
impenetrable to man or beast. Far away in a 
southern direction is the little frontier post called 
Fort Lancaster. There are no frequented trails near 
the place which they had selected. The Rio Grande 
road, from Fort Quitman to Fort Lancaster, runs 

274 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 2/5 

southwest of the rugged region alluded to above, 
and the usual line of travel from Fort McKavitt to 
the military posts and settlements on the Upper Rio 
Grande, in New Mexico, was a long distance from 
their chosen retreat. Toward the northeast are the 
Salt Plains, and, further away still, the Staked 
Plains, the dread of all travellers in those regions. 

In this retreat they were free from the intrusion of 
prying neighbors, and the inquisitiveness of passing 
travellers. It was and is a lovely place. There are 
few traces of the presence of man in that wilderness 
land. The Pecos flows miles away from their place 
through a valley full of natural beauties. But the 
region is lonely — so lonely ! There are only trails 
occasionally followed by a band of predatory Lipans, 
or traversed by marauding parties of Comanches and 
Kickapoos, on raids to the Mexican border through 
that vast region. It was in such a country the dar- 
ing bandits found repose ; and, when occasion suited, 
to ride untrammeled by fears. 

When the wild turmoil of this wearisome life, 

With its scenes of oppression, corruption and strife; 

The proud man's scorn and the base man's fear, 

And the scoffer's laugh and the sufferer's tear; 

And malice and meanness, and falsehood and folly, 

Disposed them to musing and dark melancholy; 

When their bosoms were full, and their throughts were high, 

And their souls were sick with the outlaw's sigh — 

Oh, then there was freedom, and joy, and pride, 

Afar in the broad plains alone to ride ! " 

Such seasons of reflection concerning that wln'ch 
is, and that which might have been, come to ail 



2/6 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

mankind, and it came to the outlawed brothers, be- 
cause they are members of the great family. It was 
doubtless at some such time, when their spirits were 
subdued by their lonely communion with the grander 
mysteries of nature, that the James Boys plead for 
pardon of past offences, and promised future amend- 
ment and conformity to the laws established for the 
government of society. They have often manifested 
a desire to be at peace with the world. But such 
resting did not wait upon them. 

Issuing from their retreat, they dared the danger 
of the border, plunged through the chaparral, 
ascended rugged mountain steeps, plunged down 
their western ;lopes to the sand plains which border 
the Rio Grande. Passing through the poor pueblo 
of San Estevan, noted as the haunt of cattle raiders 
and bandits ; alarming the people at early morn by 
their imperious behavior and skill as pistol-shooters, 
exhibited by bringing down a chicken for their 
breakfast at a distance of sixty paces, they rode 
away to the Grande river, crossed over to the Mexi- 
can side, and passed westward until the adobe walls 
of Mojmia rose before and around them. 

The brothers had grown weary of secluded living. 
They had now started on an expedition destined to 
create a profound sensation all along the border. 
They passed on through Santa Rosa, and through 
the desert lands, and over the mountains to the 
westward of that place. These men never pause be- 
fore obstacles which would appall others. Neither 



*kANk AND JfeSSt JAMejJ. ijf 

the rugged mountain passes where the Mexican 
Guerrillas have their hiding places, nor the desolation 
and terors of " the Dead Man's Journey" arrested 
their course. 

Carmen is a village of considerable size and im- 
portance in the northern part of the State of Chi- 
huahua in Mexico. Surrounded on three sides by 
rugged hills rising into mountains, it is situated on a 
line with an important pass through the Sierra Ma- 
dres. Carmen is therefore a halting place for caravans 
of traders, and through its plaza passes treasure- 
conductas from the mines of Chihuahua. The bold 
riders from the north of the Rio Grande had an ob- 
ject in going to Carmen, which was made plain in 
due time. 

Arrived at Carmen, Jesse and Frank, who had 
been joined by three other members of the band at 
Santa Rosa, among them Jack Bishop, put up at the 
leading posado of the place. They were a well- 
behaved company, and as they paid liberally for all 
they desired, the people regarded them as a valua- 
ble accession to the population. The boys had a 
delicate way of demonstrating their capacity to 
shoot, by killing a fowl, or pig, or dog, by shooting 
it with a revolver from a great distance, taking care 
always to make the exhibition as public as possi- 
ble. So it happened on this occasion. The Guer- 
rillas and other rough characters about Carmen had 
a very respectful manner toward such persons. The 
Mexican, whose pig had been shot, received four 



^2^ LIFE AND ADVENTURES Of 

times its value and conceived thereafter a very ar- 
dent affection for the American gentlemen of the 
north. 

It was in the late spring-time and the road through 
Carmen was travelled by many traders and miners, 
bound north through New Mexico, to the markets 
of this country. 

The adventurers from Rest Ranche noted 
everything. There were little parties travelling to- 
gether with considerable money, on their way to 
purchase supplies in the United States. 

But it was not for such small profits that they pro- 
posed to practice their profession. One day, six 
pack mules, each loaded with 150 pounds of silver, 
and each with a muleteer to control him, moved out 
of the City of Chihuahua. With these rode twelve 
men as a guard. They kept on until Carmen was 
reached, without anything unusual happening. At 
this place they halted for a day's rest. The outlaws 
went among the guards, sought out the persons to 
whose charge the treasures had been committed, and 
ascertained the direction of their future movements. 
Nay, further, they simulated fears of the lurking In- 
dians and plundering Guerrillas along the road before 
them. They claimed to be anxious to get into the 
United States, but had heard so many stories of the 
dangers of the road that it had deterred them from 
undertaking the journey. They professed to be 
American gentlemen who had been looking over the 
mines of Chihuahua. Their manners were affable, 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. ifg 

and their story plausible. When they made over- 
tures to the chief of the conducta, to be allowed to 
journey with the treasure party for mutual protection 
across the dangerous border, their desires were ac- 
ceded- to, and when the cavalcade moved slowly 
away from Carmen the next day, the unsuspecting 
merchants and treasure-bearers were accompanied 
by five men of the most desperate character. For 
the first three days of the march the Americans were 
watched with some degree of vigilance, and the 
Mexicans maintained a strict guard over the treasure- 
pouches. 

But the deportment of the outlaws was such that 
they soon succeeded in allaying any suspicion which 
might have attached to them. Carmen was a long 
way from the border, and the bandits did not care to 
strike the blow which they had resolved upon when 
too far away from their retreat, and that, too, on un- 
familiar ground. So they journeyed on with their 
intended victims on the most amicable terms. A 
suitable opportunity to seize the treasure was now 
all that they wanted, for the Mexicans had grown 
somewhat careless in consequence of their confidence 
in the numbers of their party. 

One day they halted by a crystal stream which 
flowed down from a gorge in the mountains, and 
where a spring of pure, cold water gushed from the 
rocky bank. It was noon time, and the weary trav- 
ellers took the burdens from their beasts, and allowed 
them to graze in the fresh, tall grass in the valley. 



280 LIFE AND ADVENtUkES OF 

It was a lovely day, and the scenery about them was 
very charming. The muleteers and guards, all save 
two, who stood sentinel over the treasure-pouches, 
had thrown themselves on the verdant bank, and 
were lazily conversing about the beauty of the situa- 
tion ; the length of time yet required in which to 
complete the journey before them, and hke topics of 
small interest to our readers. There were in the 
company a Senor Moiines, and another Mexican 
gentleman, both merchants of Chihuahua. The 
American desperadoes stood upon the bank under 
the shade of a tree, a little apart from the group of 
guards, who were in fact largely owners of the treas- 
ure they watched. The muleteers formed a little 
group not far away. The guns which the Mexicans 
carried had been stacked, or rather leaned against a 
tree. Mr. Moiines and his friend sat smoking on a 
moss-grown rock by the bank of the stream. It was 
a picturesque scene, and the surroundings heightened 
ihe effect of the picture. 

The two guards on duty carried their guns care- 
lessly on their shoulders. Suddenly, Jesse James 
called out, 

" Let's go, boys !" 

There was a sharp report of pistols. The two 
armed guards sank quivering to the earth. The out- 
laws rushed to the tree where the guards had left 
their arms, and placed themselves with presented 
revolvers between the guardians of the treasure and 
their weapons, Tiie two Mexican merchants were 



FRANK ANt) JESSE JAMeS, 28 1 

ordered to throw up their hands, and with the forci- 
ble argument of leveled dragoon pistols, presented 
as an alternative, they yielded, and one of the gang 
went and disarmed them. The muleteers were par- 
alyzed with fear, and remained sprawled upon the 
grass carpet. The place has been well named La 
Temido (the place of fear.) 

It had been but a minute since the first act in the 
drama was presented, and in that time the whole 
tragic play had been completed. What a revolution 
in the circumstances of the actors had taken place ? 
Two were dead, and sixteen survivors were prison- 
ers, and at the mercy of five of the most des))erate 
men who ever played the part of freebooters on this 
continent. 

They took the horses of the rrerchants and 
guards, broke their guns, forced the muleteers to 
place the treasure pouches upon the best and 
fleetest of the horses ; shot the mules and other 
horses not required, and threatened the fright- 
ened men who were in their power with death, 
and finally left them a long way from any hu- 
man habitation, without horses and without food, 
and proceeded to the Rio Grande at an unfrequented 
part of its course, many miles above Fort Quitman, 
where they had provided a boat before they ven- 
tured on their expedition, ferried the captured treas- 
ure and swam their horses across, and in less than 
twenty-four hours after their surprise and capture 
of the treasures of the caravan, they had disap- 



2§2 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

peared in the rugged region which Hes between the 
Rio Grande and the Pecos, in the Territory of Bexar, 
Texas. They had so completely hidden their trail 
that all attempts to follow them were futile. 

In a few days after this successful foray into Mex- 
ico, Jesse and Frank were at their ranche enjoying 
much-needed repose. How the members of the 
wealthy party, with which they travelled from Car- 
men, managed to get once more into the haunts of 
civilized men, we have received no information. 
The great heap of silver which they had taken was 
brought by the outlaws into their retreat in the 
mountains, and there divided among the five daring 
brigands. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

THE ROBBERS AND THEIR FRIENDS. 

" Wherefore, in the hour of need, 
Shall a people house them ? 
Wherefore did our brothers bleed, 
When great wrongs did rouse them T 
Is this the sod, 
So blest by God, 
That slaves swear by its clay, men T 
Or are we still. 
The men of will ? 
We ask you that to-day, men I " 

Why have the James Boys so many friends ? Is it 
because there are so many people disposed to law- 
lessness? Are the friends of the Jameses, like them- 
selves, all outlaws ? If they are not, why do they 
yet sympathize with them? How can any honest 
man succor and shelter them ? Can it be possible 
that any one can be so impervious to testimony as 
to believe these men to be anything but outlaws ? 
These are the questions asked by those who believe 
that the Boys ought to have been caught long ago, 
and lay a large part of the blame for their escape 
from arrest so long on the people of the states where 
their most notable deeds have been committed. 
Some persons point to the results obtained in Min- 
nesota, after Northfield, as an evidence that a laro^e 

part of the population in Missouri, Arkansas, Texas 
283 



2S4 i'iF^ AND ADVENtURBS Ot 

and Kentucky, where their most successful raids 
have been made, must necessarily be in sympathy 
with them, if, indeed, they are not in direct collusion 
with the great outlaws. Such a charge is evidently 
made by persons who have not examined into the cir- 
cumstances of the case, and the conditions which have 
favored them in escaping apprehension by the offi- 
cers of the law. It will be remembered that the 
James Boys have committed successful robberies in 
both Iowa and Kansas, and it will not be claimed by 
the most prejudiced mind that the people of Iowa 
and Kansas, resident in the neighborhood where 
these exploits were committed, were more in sym- 
pathy with the marauders than were the people ol 
Northfield and vicinity. And yet the Jameses es- 
caped capture. 

Without in any way assuming a defence of the 
people of the states named above, on account of 
their failure to capture the outlaws — for they need 
no service of the kind from us — we may be permit- 
ted in this place to state a few facts which may ena- 
ble cavilers to form a more rational judgment in this 
matter. 

That the Jameses have friends scattered through 
many states we readily admit. That all those who 
have a friendly feeling toward them are not in the 
lower classes of roughs, is undeniable; that some 
who move in respectable circles of society, and who 
are above reproach, so far as their individual actions 
are concerned* are yet disposed to apologize for 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 28$ 

them, is unfortunately true. But such " friends " as 
these have nothing to do with obstructing the execu- 
tion of the law. The Jameses have numerous 
friends in Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Texas, 
New Mexico and Colorado. And under like condi- 
tions they would have equally as large a list of 
friends in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Da- 
kota and Wyoming. Their active, helpful friends 
are to be found among that class which the law is 
ever pursuing but never subduing. They are called 
** thugs " in New York and all the other large cities ; 
and on the border everywhere, the same elements 
in human nature which create ** the thugs, pariahs 
and roughs," of the urbane populations, produce 
the desperadoes and road agents of the wilderness 
regions. 

Now the fact is, the Jameses have ranged over 
the entire country, from the Ohio river to the shores 
of the Gulf ; from the borders of Iowa to the Sierra 
Madres, and from the Blue Ridge to the Rocky 
Mountains. Their reputation as daring men and 
skillful leaders has made them known to all that 
class of people who are without the pale of society, 
as that term is applied — and there are members of 
that class in every community — who at once seek an 
alliance with such distinguished leaders of their 
class — the outlaws. The result is, that these peo- 
ple embrace every opportunity to serve such men as 
Frank and Jesse James. Why has not Pinkerton, 
with all his ability and resources as a catcher of la^y- 
^real^ers, caught these men ? 



286 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

The answer is simple enough. They know the 
country thoroughly ; they have, not one, but many 
places to which they can retreat, and when hard 
pressed or sorely wounded, they go to their retreats, 
where they are nursed and cared for until they choose 
to go away. 

Again, there may be, and doubtless are, a few 
persons who have known the Boys from early child- 
hood — knew their father before them — and afterward 
remembered the deeds performed by them in a cause 
which they regarded as right, who are loth to be- 
lieve that the Boys are brigands and robbers. And 
then it is certain that some of their " friends " are 
persons who are free to admit that the Boys have 
degenerated into lawless marauders, but excuse them 
on the ground that they were driven to it by the ter- 
ribly bad treatment which they received at the 
hands of those who were enemies of the Southern 
cause in the struggle of long ago. It is barely pos- 
sible that a limited number of people, whose whole 
mind and strength were devoted to the success of the 
South during the great conflict, yet look back with 
deep regret at the melancholy failure of their efforts, 
and have apotheosized every man who engaged 
on that side and fought for the cause which had be- 
come sacred in their eyes — a very few persons who 
belong to that class, representatives of which are to 
be found everywhere, who can neither forgive nor 
forget — who only remember that Frank and Jesse 
James were fighters in that struggle, and hence all 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 28/ 

subsequent bad conduct cannot exclude them from 
a place in their affections. This is in accordance 
with the laws of human nature. All men are not cos- 
mopolitan in their views, and hence, when disasters fell 
upon a cause which was believed to be right and sa- 
cred, the little world in which these persons lived 
and moved and had their being, suffered a moral 
convulsion from which it has not yet recovered, and, 
in their minds, can never recover. 

With the social conditions and mental state which 
enshrouded people like those described above, and 
rendered them insensible to the requirements of so- 
cial order, we have nothing to do. Such people are 
found in all climes now; and such people have lived 
in all ages since the human family commenced the 
struggle for existence. 

But the " friends " of the Jameses are for the most 
part persons who, like themselves, have rebelled 
against the established order of society. They are 
scattered all over the country, and among that class, 
from the Rio Grande to the Ohio, the Boys have 
personal acquaintances and active allies. Even be- 
yond the lofty range of the Rocky Mountains they 
have confederates in spirit, if not in action. These 
children of an ill-starred destiny roam over a vast 
extent of country. And wherever they go, th^y are 
likely to find some one who, from some cause or 
other, open their houses to them and willingly 
afford them succor and shelter. Some of these men 
doubtless share with the renowned freebooters the 
spoils gained in their daring profession. 



288 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

Tho "friends" of the Jameses — even those who 
are active allies and participators in their lawless 
deeds, are many of them respected in the communi- 
ties where they belong. Among their neighbors 
they are known as liberal-minded men of unques- 
tionably good character. Some of them have families 
who cfe respected and honored by their associates. 
Some of them, when at home, are regular in their 
attendance at church, and liberal in their donations 
for th ; support of the ministry. Some affect to patron- 
ize the educational interests, while there are others 
who are promoters of improvements in horticulture, 
agriculture, and all other movements intended to bene- 
fit the communities of which they are members. Who 
would surmise that these staid and respected mem- 
bers of society are leagued with outlaws? Generally, 
their evil deeds are committed far away from their 
place.T of residence. They are not often mixed up 
in an}'' affair near by, and when they join the band 
for the purpose of committing depredations, they 
always give out that they are about to make a jour- 
ney in a way directly contrary to that in which they 
intend to travel. 

But the most valuable of the members of the band 
of friends of the Jameses are those who never go 
abroad to depjedate. They are of infinite service to 
the Boys. In all their relations with their neighbors 
and tlie members of the society with which they are 
brought in cor tact, these allies of the brigands are 
scrupalously exact and strictly upright. The consc- 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 289 

quence is, no suspicion attaches to their character, 
and with them the outlaws are safe. 

Not only do these " friends " not go abroad to 
plunder, but when their confederates who **do the 
work " commit a deed of outlawry in their vicinity, 
they first conceal the robbers, and then turn out as 
leaders of the hunters of the outlaws. They are some- 
times loudest in their execration of the plunderers, and 
strongest in their expressions of hatred toward all law- 
less men. Being good citizens of honorable repute, no 
one suspects them, and their friends, the robbers, rest 
until the storm has swept by, and then quietly they 
ride away. Many of these men are well-to-do ; 
have good farms, live in comfortable houses, and 
have many fine horses and fat cattle. Of course 
these valuable allies have a liberal allowance of the 
brigands' spoils set apart for their use and behoof. 
It must be borne in mind that these men are resi- 
dents of regions of comparatively recent settlement, 
where the antecedents of newly-arrived citizens are 
not strictly inquired into by those who only arrived 
yesterday themselves. So long, therefore, as the 
citizen deports himself as " a clever man," so long 
will his neighbors implicitly trust him. 

Such is the character of the men which Jesse 
James' fertile brain has called into service ; the char- 
acter of the organization, which all the devices of 
the shrewdest detectives, all the bravest executors 
of the law have failed in ten long years 
of effort, to disintegrate or destroy. The very 

iS 



290 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

fact that such an organization does exist, and that 
Jesse James furnished the brains which summoned 
it into existence, and has maintained it for so long a 
time, stamps him as -an extraordinary man — one 
who, under other circumstances, might have become 
a leader of men, and passed into history along with 
George Cadoudal, Paoli, and other like actors on the 
world's wide stage. 



CHAPTER XLIL 

EXCURSIONS INTO MEXICO. 

The wild, adventurous career of the boys has 
been wonderful. They loved the road, loved to ride 
at will over the land, and set at defiance the officers 
of the law. 

Nor have they confined their excursions to the 
American side of the Rio Grande. Not unfrequently 
they ride far away over the Sierra Madres into the 
valley of the lakes ; in Coahuila and San Luis Po- 
tosi, they are known of many. In some of these 
expeditions they pass through thrilling experi- 
ences and innumerable dangers. Those border 
rovers of Mexico who have crossed the path of the 
boys once and have escaped with their lives, evince 
no disposition to renew hostilities with the " gringo 
devils," as they affectionately call the American out- 
laws. 

In this chapter we propose to relate some of " the 
hair breadth escapes" of the daring outlaws in the 
land of the Otomis. These tales of wild life will not 
fail to interest the reader. 

One time — it was in the spring of 1877 — Frank 

and Jesse James rode down to the bank of the 

"River of the North." Piedras Negras is a favorite 

crossing place, both for Mexican cattle thieves and 
291 



292 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

American outlaws. To this point came Frank and 
Jesse James. The river was high and the crossing 
difficult. It was not the season for successful raid- 
ing, and the enterprising Mexican raiders had turned 
their attention to the business of revolutionizing 
their own count-y. In this pious undertaking they 
had not met with that degree of success which justi- 
fied them in rejoicing. The lazaroni, gathered at 
Piedras Negras, were particularly ill-humored, and 
the lonely Texan who came in their way could ex- 
pect nothing better than to be plundered. 

Such was the situation of affairs when Frank and 
Jesse James arrived on the Texas side of the river 
in front of the wretched Mexican pueblo. The 
surly " greaser," who acted as the Charon at that 
point, was even more surly than usual. But the boys 
had passed that way before, and the ferryman had a 
vivid recollection that one Estevan Sandoval, who 
had molested them on one occasion, was now no 
more in the land of the living. He complied with 
the usual tedious alacrity of his countrymen to set 
them across the stream. 

There was an unusual number of ill-looking fel- 
lows about the place, a fact which did not escape the 
immediate attention of the boys. There were regu- 
lar brigands from the passes of the Sierra Madres; 
thieves from Matamoras, cut-throats from Saltillo ; 
smugglers from all along the border, and rogues of 
all grades. The boys knew there was ** fun ahead." 

It must be said to the credit of the Jameses that 



JfRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 293 

they neither seek nor run away from a fight. In this 
case the character of the boys was sustained. They 
proposed to pass on without stopping. In this be- 
nevolent intention they were not destined to succeed. 
Riding through the square, or plaza, as the Mexicans 
call it, they passed on toward the country of woods 
beyond. They had not got out of the straggling 
village, when a mob of half-drunken, howling Mexi- 
cans, mounted on horses, came after them, cursing 
and firing off their pistols as they came. It would 
have been well for some of them if they had never 
beheld the face of a gringo. Doubtless the leaders 
expected to see the boys use their spurs liberally 
and make time out of town. In this they were dis- 
appointed. The American outlaws were not accus- 
tomed to flee before such "outfits." Instead of gal- 
loping away, they deliberately halted, and the inevi- 
table pistols were drawn and " the fun began." The 
Jameses do not have occasion to kill unless they de- 
sire to do so, as they can easily disable an enemy 
without taking his life. In less time than is required 
to state the incident, four of the foremost of the rab- 
ble were on the ground, with broken right arms. 
The remainder of the cro^^d turned and rode with all 
speed through the plaza. Actuated by some wild 
impulse which sometimes seems to possess them, the 
Jameses turned and rode back again to the square. 
It came near proving a fatal ride to Frank. Some 
of the Mexicans had taken refuge in an adobe house 
on one side of the plaza, and seeing the daring 



^94 LI^E ^ND ADVENTURES O^ 

American outlaws sitting on their horses in the very 
midst of the place, in an attitude of defiance of all 
" the brave men " of Piedras Negras, they mustered 
courage to open fire upon the boys. A perfect 
shower of bullets was discharged, and one of them 
cut the brim of the hat worn by Frank James, nar- 
rowly missing the side of his head. Then the boys 
felt that they were in for " a good deal of fun," and 
all scruple as to killing vanished. They shot to kill, 
and death was the doom of any greaser who came 
within their deadly range. Two were killed out- 
right, and then the ill-natured mob that had sought 
to avenge the death of Estevan Sandoval, fled from 
the village in terror, leaving the brothers in undis- 
puted possession of the place. 

It was not their purpose to remain, and they rode 
on in a short time. That evening, when they were 
crossing a stream, swollen by the recent spring rains, 
a party of brigands in ambush on the opposite 
bank opened fire upon them, and Jesse received a 
slight wound in the left shoulder. The boys charged 
the thicket which had afforded the robbers shelter, 
and the whole ten broke and fled, not however, be- 
fore one of their number was made to atone for the 
hurt which Jesse had received. 

This journey into San Luis Potosi, was one fraught 
with many perils, and only the fate which seems to 
protect them, enabled them to return into Texas. 
They met with a singular adventure on this trip. 

They had reached Monclova, a large town in 



FRATJK AND JESSE JAMES. 295 

Coahuila. Here they found an acquaintance — an 
old comrade of the Guerrilla times. He had taken 
up his residence in Mexico, had married a handsome 
Mexican girl, and had settled down to a quiet life in 
a strange land. Of course he was glad to see the 
Boys whom he had not met since they parted in 
Kentucky, when he was captured and sent to prison. 
His home was placed at their disposal, and his Mex- 
ican wife received them with that cordial hospitality 
which is a characteristic of her countrywomen. 
Here they proposed to remain a day or two and 
rest. 

In accordance with the customs of the country, 
the Mexicanized American gave his old comrades a 
reception on the following afternoon, or rather even- 
ing after their arrival. A reception in Mexico means 
a ball or fandango. Many of the leading citizens 
of Monclova attended the reception, for the friend 
of the Jameses was esteemed a very worthy citizen 
and respectable gentleman. 

Among the guests was a young lieutenant of the 
Mexican army, and an American long resident in the 
country, who came from the vicinity of Matehuala. 
These two men scrutinized the faces of the Boys in 
a very peculiar manner, and a careful observer could 
have seen the flushes of anger which ever and anon 
overspread their countenances. Jesse had noticed 
their behavior, and called the attention of his brother 
to the strangeness of their conduct. He was sure 
that he had seen the American before somewhere. 



296 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

at some time, just when and where he could not re- 
member. 

Frank was enjoying himself in the society of a 
fair senorita, and seemed to attach little importance 
to his brother's suggestions. But Jesse watched 
them closely, and became thoroughly convinced 
that he had met both men before, and he knew that 
the meeting had been that of enemies. 

The lieutenant and his companion did not remain 
long, but took their departure. There was at that time 
encamped, in the environs of Monclova, a brigade of 
the Mexican army, and the regiment to which the 
lieutenant belonged had barracks near the plaza. 
On leaving the ball-room, the two men went directly 
to the headquarters of the regiment, and found there 
the colonel and lieutenant-colonel. The young offi- 
cer at once laid before them the knowledge which 
he possessed concerning the character of the men 
who were being entertained in Monclova that night. 
Both men had a score to settle with the Jameses. 
The account of the American dated back to 1865 — 
that of the young officer only a little more than a 
year, at which time, unfortunately, in one of the bor- 
der broils, frequent about that time between Mexi- 
cans and Texans, the Boys had killed a brother of 
the officer. 

The superior officers looked with favor on the 
scheme to arrest the Boys. The more readily, too, 
did they agree to the plan of capture when informed 
that the American authorities were offering a reward 



JfRANK AND JESSE JAMES. Spf 

of ^50,000 for the apprehension of these men. It 
was a bonanza which the impecunious colonels hoped 
to gain. 

Silently as possible a company of eighty men 
was mustered, and n?arched to the house, and im- 
mediately surrounded it. The merry makers were 
just in the midst of an evening of enjoyment. In- 
deed, '• there was a sound of revelry by night," and 
the fair senoritas and chivalrous youths of Monclova 
were animated by high hopes and dreams of future 
bliss. 

Suddenly there was an interruption. The doors 
were thrown open, and an officer, accompanied by a 
guard, strode into the room. The violinist dropped 
his bow ; the dancers stood still ; the faces of women 
blanched, and men quailed before this apparition of 
war and bloodshed. 

The officer stepped briskly to the part of the 
room where the Jameses were standing, and address- 
ing them in broken English, commanded them to 
surrender in the name and by the authority of the 
government of Mexico. Frank and Jesse looked at 
him with a disdainful, dangerous smile. 

Would they surrender without his being under the 
painful necessity of using force, inquired the officer. 

** Never ! " The answer was firmly delivered. 

The officer turned to the guards, and gave a signal 
of command for them to move up. 

" Stop ! " It was Jesse's voice of command. The 
officer waved the guards to halt. 



298 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OK 

'* We have a proposition to submit. Will you 
hear it ? " 

** If it means surrender, yes," replied the officer. 

*' It is this:" pursued Jesse, not appearing to no- 
tice the purport of the officer's reply, " allow these 
ladies here to retire, and we will discuss the question 
with you." 

" I shall be compelled to take you by force," said 
the officer. 

" Let the ladies retire, I say ! " exclaimed Jesse 
James, in a tone that betrayed his impatience. 

The Boys were not surprised without arms. They 
never lay aside a pair of pistols. They are ever at 
their sides, and always ready for use. The officer 
parleyed. He did not desire to begin an affiay in 
the midst of a company of ladies — his instincts as a 
gentleman revolted against subjecting them to alarm 
and danger. The house was surrounded ; he had 
ample lorce to enforce the orders of his superiors ; 
so he said, 

" Let the ladies all retire." 

The order v/as given at the door to the guards to 
to allow the ladies to pass through. The bail-room 
was soon free from their presence. The men hud- 
dled in one corner, and finally were permitted to re- 
tire into another room. 

" Now," said the officer, ** lay down your pistols. 
I have an ample force to enforce these orders. The 
house is surrounded ; you cannot get away." 

The answer he received was a derisive peal of 



J^RANK and JESSE JAMES. 299 

iaughter. At the same moment a pistol flashed be- 
fore the eyes of the officer as he raised his sword to 
signal his guard. He saw it but for an instant, there 
was an explosion, and the officer fell dead to the 
floor. The guard, amazed, rushed forward to succor 
their fallen leader. They were thrown off their 
guard. One, two, three deafening reports, and three 
soldiers lay still, weltering in their gore. Celerity of 
execution is safety, was ever the motto of the 
Jameses. The guards who had followed their officer 
into the house, fled when they saw their comrades 
fall. The boys rushed out of the house. The sol- 
diers in the street met them with a volley of balls. 
But they were too much agitated to shoot well. The 
boys escaped with two or three trifling scratches. 
They opened fire on the line of guards around the 
house. Seized with consternation, the soldiers fled 
from their deadly revolvers. The whole town was 
excited. The streets began to teem with surging 
throngs of men, women and children ; the alarm 
drums were beat in the barracks; the soldiers hastily 
formed in line and marched to the scene of the dis- 
turbance. Never had Monclova been so shaken 
before. 

It was too late. The cause of all the hubbub had 
reached their horses, hastily saddled them, mounted, 
and were then thundering far away through the dark 
streets. They did not travel the highways after day- 
light next morning. But they found a refuge in the 
mountains, and when the excitement had subsided 
they went their way. 



CHAPTER XLin. 

DEATH TO BORDER BRIGANDS. 

The ranche of the James Boys furnished a temp- 
tation to the Mexican border brigands, which they 
were in no wise able to resist, even if they had pos- 
sessed the least particle of that moral sense which 
enables men to withstand temptation. The Jameses 
were successful rancheros ; they lived out on the 
confines of the white settlements in Texas. Their 
fat herds spread over the valleys and ranged over 
many hills. This wealth of cattle excited the cu- 
pidity of the Mexican border banditti. They envied 
the outlawed boys their goodly possessions; and 
they were nerved to undertake to appropriate the 
herds, even if the lives of the owners should be taken 
in order to compass their wishes. 

There was a robber chief of Nueva Leon, who 
had once been a faithful lieutenant of Cortinas, ** the 
Robber Governor" of the State of Tamaulipas. 
This fellow, whose name was Juan Fernando Pala- 
cios, had achieved a local reputation about Piedras 
Negras, Eagle Pass, Mier, and other localities on the 
upper Rio Grande, as a daring freebooter and bloody 
minded murderer. He had gathered about him a 
band of men of like disposition with himself — prin- 
cipally fugitives from justice from the neighboring 

300 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 3OI 

states. This gang o{ desperadoes numbered more 
than thirty men, and Palacios resolved to lead them 
<^ver among the ranches of the Texans. There was 
much booty to be gained by a successful raid. It 
was at a season of the year when many herds were 
being pastured in the valley of the Pecos, and with 
thirty men and more he fondly hoped that he could 
come upon, and discomfit all the "cow boys" in 
that region, and drive away the well conditioned 
herds at his leisure. 

It was in the autumn of 1877. The dry season 
had withered the grass on the hill slopes and the up- 
land plains. But down in the valleys the grass was 
green, and the wild flowers bloomed in all the fresh- 
ness of the spring time. Palacios and his brigands 
made careful preparations before they set out. There 
had been a season of quiet on the border. Several 
months had passed since the last raid was made. 
The Mexican brigand hoped to take the " cow boys " 
unawares — surprise them — kill them, and drive away 
their herds. This was his hope. 

Mexican brigands are good night travellers. In- 
deed, their most important movements are made in 
the night. During the day time, if possible, they 
take shelter in the chaparral, and remain quiet until 
the shades of night fall over valley and plain, and 
then under the starlight they ride — sometimes 
accomplishing long journeys in a thinly inhabited 
country without giving the least information of their 
presence, so secretly do they move. 



302 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

It was a lovely evening in October. There was 
no moon, but the stars shone brightly from the cloud- 
less sky. El Paso was unusually quiet that evening. 
There was not a fandango in progress in the place ; 
the sound of the violin was not heard within its bor- 
ders. The senoritas sang no vesper hymns. Pala- 
cios and his robber band had gone across the river 
into Texas, and not many young men remained in 
El Paso. All night, beneath the silent stars, the 
mongrel band of the bandit chief rode on toward 
" the settlements " of the hated, as well as dreaded 
Texans. Before dawn they found shelter in a patch 
of chaparral in the valley of an affluent of the Rio 
Pecos. No one had seen them. Thirty miles and 
more they had ridden in the direction of the fat 
herds of the Texans. The day passed away, and 
once more the curtain of night fell, and the Mexican 
raiders rode in its shadow. By dawn they had 
reached the vicinity of a well stocked ranche. A 
convenient shelter was sought and found near a little 
stream. The raiders were many miles from El Paso 
now, and the valleys and the hill slopes, and the 
lower plains were dotted with great herds of cattle. 
But the rancheros had not yet discovered the pres- 
ence of the enemy, and rested in fancied security. 

Palacios and his band hovered near the herds all 
day. Men were sent out to ascertain the number of 
herdsmen attending the different droves. All this 
time the horses of the raiders were carefully con- 
oeaied in a thicket by the bank of the stream. When 



304 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

the evening came on, Palacios was well informed of 
the locality of all the herds in his immediate neigh- 
borhood. Dividing his men into two bands, over 
one of which he appointed a notorious murderer 
from Mier, named Jesus Almonte, and assumed com- 
mand of the other in person. The time appointed 
for ** the stampede " of the herds was ten o'clock at 
night. At that hour the western herdsmen are al- 
most always sound asleep. Palacios was certain that 
his presence on the American side of the Rio Grande 
was not known. He had met no one, and his scouts 
had reported everything quiet among the herdsmen. 
Ten o'clock came. The Mexican robbers, well 
armed and splendidly mounted, quietly left their 
covert. Almonte and his band proceeded two and a 
half or three miles up the stream where a large herd 
of cattle were corraled. Palacios went down the 
creek to "stampede" another herd of seven or eight 
hundred head. The process of *' stampeding " is 
thoroughly understood by the Mexicans. The 
herdsmen were aroused by the approaching horse- 
men. But it was too late. The Mexicans were 
among them, and Almonte's gang killed two of the 
** cow-boys " at the upper herd, and Palacios' crowd 
killed one at the lower herd. The ** stampede " was 
complete. The herds were turned toward the Rio 
Grande, and driven rapidly away. All the remain- 
der of that night, and all the next day, the robbers 
pressed forward toward their place of concealment 
and shelter beyond the Rio Grande. As yet, no 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 3O5 

pursuers had appeared, but Palacios knew well that 
they were not safe on this side the river. He knew 
that the avengers were on his track, and he cared 
not to see the face of a Texan at that time. Com- 
ing at night time to the river some distance below El 
• Paso, he crossed over with all his booty, and speed- 
ily made himself comfortable among his sympathiz- 
ing countrymen and countrywomen. 

It chanced about that time that Frank and Jesse 
James rode down toward the Rio Grande to make 
observations, and enjoy life just beyond the borders 
of civilization. Being somewhat in the outlaw busi- 
ness themselves, they cared very little for " the bor- 
ders of civilization," or for that matter, for the interior. 
While riding, they met one of the sorely disconsolate 
herdsmen, who told the story which we have related, 
with many embellishments ; for instance, that a band 
had come out of the south country, killed all the 
herdsmen in the valley, driven off all the herds, and 
that he only was left alive to tell of their fate. 

To this doleful tale Frank and Jesse James gave 
good heed, for one of the missing herds had been 
their property. 

The two brothers consulted together as to what 
could be done under the circumstances. They had 
been into Mexico on many occasions before, and, 
although the frightened herdsman had magnified the 
numbers of the raiders, so that they appeared a 
mighty host, Frank and Jesse James were not the 
men to submit tamely to downright robbery. The 

»9 



306 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

brothers resolved to pursue the raiders. And so 
they rode on and gv until they came to the Rio 
Grande. 

It was in the early morning. The October sun 
had not yet appeared above the horizon, but all the 
eastern sky was refulgent with the coming glories of 
a lovely day. Frank and Jesse James had ridden 
far, but their horses were not jaded, and as for them- 
selves, physical endurance is their normal character- 
istic. They were ready for any desperate adven- 
ture, such as they were then engaged in. Only for 
a moment did they pause when they emerged from 
the river. Their firearms were carefully examined, 
and then they urged their horses onward. El Paso 
was silent. The inhabitants had not yet awakened 
from their slumbers. Palacios and his band, with 
their stolen herds, had passed on through the village 
in the direction of the mountains. Their trail 
through the sand was still fresh. The James Boys 
rode on. Three miles away they came to the camp. 
Deeminp; themselves safe, the Mexican raiders had 
taken no precautions to guard against surprise. The 
herds had been corraled, and the bandits, wearied by 
their long marches, slumbered heavily. 

Cautiously approaching the Mexican camp, the 
two brothers, with that quick perception for which 
they are distinguished, saw at a glance the situation 
of the camp and the position of the sleeping rob- 
bers. The dreamers were suddenly aroused by the 
reports of the avengers' pistols. Jesse and Frank 




307 



308 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

James were in their midst, and dealing death to the 
miscreants ere they could grasp their weapons. 
Some who dreamed were sent to their account be- 
fore the phantasy had cleared from their brains. 
With a death-dealing pistol in each hand, they fired 
with incredible rapidity, and at each discharge an 
unfortunate wretch fell to rise no more. Terror- 
stricken, the robbers fled in every direction. Some 
were arrested in their flight by the unerring aim of 
the outlawed brothers; and some more fortunate 
escaped to the mountains with life only, everything 
being left behind in order that they might save it. 

The corral was broken up. The Boys are skillful 
herdsmen, and soon the great tramping drove was 
turned toward the Rio Grande. Ten dead robbers, 
stark and still, among the cactus patches, testified 
to the prowess of the American desperadoes. They 
passed back through the village. Not a man was 
visible. They had heard of the fate of their robber 
friends. Terror-stricken, they had abandoned their 
homes and fled into the chaparral beyond the hills, 
which at this point approach the river. The Boys 
were hungry after their morning's engagement, and 
halting at the little adobe posado, they ordered 
breakfast, taking care that it was prepared under 
their personal supervision, in order that no treachery 
on the part of their unwilling entertainers should 
succeed. 

The feat which they had accomplished was one of 
the most daring ever recorded in the annals of border 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 3O9 

strife. Then, the nonchalant way in which they or- 
dered the trembUng inhabitants to minister to their 
physical comfort, furnished another proof of the ad- 
mirable nerve of these remarkable men. After re- 
freshing themselves, the Boys, at their leisure, re- 
crossed the Rio Grande with nearly the whole num- 
ber of cattle which the bandits had driven away. 

Desperadoes as they were, Palacios and Almonte 
were indisposed to surrender the rich prize which 
they had secured, as they thought, without any ef- 
fort. The two chiefs had stopped in the village the 
night previous to the arrival of the Jameses, and 
were not in the camp at the time of the attack of 
the Boys. In El Paso, they lay hidden in a heap 
of hay, while Frank and Jesse regaled themselves 
with " the best the market afforded." The Mexicans 
were convinced that a large force of Gringo Diablos 
were at hand, and they feared for their lives. They 
waited for the appearance of the squadrons of ran- 
gers in vain. Gradually it began to dawn upon their 
dull comprehension that the whole force of the 
Gringos numbered just two men. Palacios, Almonte, 
and a few of their followers rallied some hours after 
the Boys were on their march over the rolling plains 
of Texas. They were furious, and boasted of what 
great things they intended to accomplish. Some- 
time, toward noon, they cautiously approached the 
river, reconnoitered, and finally ventured to cross 
over. There was no enemy in sight, and the twenty- 
five brigands of the border became v iant, and set 



310 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

out on the trail of the Boys who were marching on 
with the recaptured herds. 

Encumbered as they were, by a vast drove of cat- 
tle, their progress was slow. Toward evening the 
Mexican bandits came in sight. But they did not 
venture to attack. Hovering on the rear, and gal- 
loping along the flanks of the moving herd, the 
Mexicans made a thorough reconnoissance of the 
force of Americans. There were just two men, and 
no more. Emboldened by this knowledge, they ap- 
proached with a view of *' stampeding " the herd. 
Five well mounted men were sent to engage the 
Boys while the others advanced on the left flank of 
the herd. But they did not know the character of 
the men they sought to kill out there on the plains. 
Secured to the saddles which they bestrode, each 
carried a long range sixteen shot Winchester rifle. 
The bandits came within range. If they ever prayed, 
the time for prayers had arrived. They were ap- 
proaching, unwittingly it may be, the margin of the 
river of death; the black angel hovered over them, 
the sun of time was being surely extinguished. De- 
taching their deadly rifles from the fastenings, each 
singled out his man, took deliberate aim, touched the 
trigger, and instantaneously two Mexican robbers 
fell to the earth pierced through their hearts. Their 
comrades marked their fall, and knew the cause. 
They turned to flee. It was too late. Even as they 
turned two more of them fell, pierced through and 
through by the unerring bullets from the steadily 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 



311 



aimed rifles of the American outlaws. The other 
one of the five fled, and succeeded in makmg his 

escape. , , , • r ^.t. 

The Boys fully comprehended the designs of the 

Mexicans, and Jesse suggested that he would ride to 

the summit of "the swell" to ^the left, to see what 

"those other devils are about." 

Riding rapidly up the slope, his horse was soon 

reined up on the crest of the ridge. There he dis- 




Fight with Mexican Cattle Theives. 
covered on the slope below him a party of some 
fifteen armed men. Bringing his rifle to bear a 
Mexican saddle was emptied in an instant. The 
•raiders replied; but their guns would not send a ball 
so far. They were not less than four hundred yards 
away. Jesse continued to empty saddles until four 
men were down. The Mexicans turned and fled, 
and Jesse gave them a parting salute, which brought 



S^^ LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

down a horse. When he rejoined his brother he re- 
marked sententiously, " Well, I've prepared a feast 
for the vultures over yonder." 

" How many are down ?" asked the other. 

" Oh, only four men and one horse," he answered, 
with a grim sort of smile. 

The dangerous time for them was the shadowy 
hours. They knew that all the brigands of that re- 
gion would take their trail. They were a hundred 
miles from any certain succor. The Mexican raid- 
ers are not to be despised in a night affray. They 
expected attack, and it is one of the peculiarities of 
the Boys, that they never sleep when there is danger 
surrounding them. The severe losses which they 
had sustained only rendered the pursuers more wary; 
but they still hovered around. The Boys expected 
an attack that night. The sun was sinking low in 
the west, and the brothers were earnestly consulting 
as to the best means of guarding against the conse- 
quences of a night attack. 

" See," said Frank, " away there on that ridge 
whose top the sun is gilding I Are those moving 
objects men on horseback, or a herd of buffalo ? 
What do you think?" 

The brothers halted. Since their removal to Texas 
they never ride abroad without carrying with them a 
field glass each. They now raised their glasses and 
looked long and earnestly at the dark objects mov- 
ing between them and the horizon. 

" They are mounted men," said Jesse. 



FRANK. AND JESSE JAMES. 313 

"Texans, Mexicans, Lipans or Commanches ? 
Which do you say ?" asked Frank. 

Jesse looked again. The mounted men were 
nearly two miles away — a longdistance to determine 
the character of men, or designate their nationality. 
Long and carefully did he scrutinize the movements 
of the horsemen. 

" Soldiers — ^l^ederal soldiers — by Jehovah !" he ex- 
claimed. " Well, I've seen the time that I would not 
like to see such a company, but I'm confounded glad 
they've come around this evening. I'll get a nap to- 
night, anyway." 

It was agreed that Jesse should ride forward and 
inform the officer in command of the presence of 
Palacios' band of raiders. He spurred his horse 
forward over the high rolling swells of prairie toward 
the horsemen, who were also advancing. The Mex- 
icans saw this movement, and saw the horsemen. 
They at once surmised that a detachment of McKen- 
zie's command was out looking for them, and turning 
about, they rode hastily back the way they came. 

The Boys were left in peace. The detachment of 
cavalry swept onward in pursuit of the fleeing raid- 
ers, and the herd, fatigued by long driving, were in- 
disposed to scatter. The return to the pastures 
from whence they had been driven was leisurely 
made. The Boys returned safely to their abode, and 
Jesse was welcomed by one who worships him as the 
world's noblest hero. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

A GOLDEN HARVEST REAPED BY OUTLAWS. 

*' Wide is our home, boys, 

Freely we roam, boys, 
Merrily, merrily, o'er the brown lea; 

Brief though our life, boys, 

With peril rife, boys, 
Oh ! it has wildness, and rapture, and glee." 

In the mellow days of September, 1877, a party 
of seven men came to the neighborhood of Ogallala, 
Nebraska, and went into camp there. They were 
** stockmen," they said, and only wished to rest 
awhile before entering upon the long, wearisome 
march across the plains to Texas, which lay before 
them. They had brought droves of cattle from the 
pasture-prairies of the "Lone Star" state to supply 
the markets of Chicago and other cities to the east, 
and it was their intention, according to their state- 
ments, to return to Texas to be in readiness for "the 
spring drive." There was in this party Jim Berry, 
of Portland, Callaway county, Missouri, an old-time 
Guerrilla in the days of Anderson ; Jack Davis, for- 
merly of the vicinity of Fort Smith, Arkansas, a 
man of sinister reputation ; Billy Heffridge, a Penn- 
sylvanian of no good repute; Jim Collins, a brother 
of Brad, the well-known Texan desperado, who was 

314 



J^RANK and JESSE JAMES. 315 

killed in an encounter with a sheriff who attempted 
his arrest, and Sam Bass, the somewhat distinguished 
outlaw, whose name figures so prominently in the 
criminal annals of the period between 1865 and 
1878. There were two others, the identity of one of 
whom has never been discovered. Of these, Berry, 
Collins, Davis, and one other, had sometimes ridden 
with Frank and Jesse James, and exchanged the 
civilities of the craft with them. Who the seventh 
man of the party of " campers at Ogallala " was, 
the detectives have never been able to discover. 

The ** stockmen," as they styled themselves, re- 
mained in camp near Ogallala for a number of days, 
and were frequent visitors to the village. Jim Berry 
had been in business at Plattsmouth, Nebraska, and 
had made some acquaintances along the road. 
Among the business men residing at Ogallala, which 
is the county seat of Keith county, and a station of 
some importance on the line- of the Union Pacific 
railway, was Mr. M. F. Leach, a gentleman of great 
mental acuteness, and an excellent judge of men. 

One day some of the ** cattlemen " came to Leach's 
store in Ogallala, among them Jim Berry, and pur- 
chased a number of red bandana handkerchiefs. Of 
course nothing was thought of the circumstance at 
the time, but subsequently the red bandanas afforded 
"a clue " to the identity of the robbers of a train on 
the Union Pacific railroad. 

Big Springs is a station on the railroad, about 
twenty-three miles west of Ogallala, nearly on the 



3l6 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

line between Keith and Cheyenne counties, Ne- 
braska. At this place there is an excellent supply 
of water, which constitutes its greatest claim to im- 
portance, for on other accounts Big Springs posses- 
ses little to interest the traveller. One evening — it 
was the 17th of September — the people of Brule 
and Ogallala were thrown into a great ferment of 
excitement on the arrival of the train from the West, 
bringing, as the conductor and passengers did, a 
full account of the great robbery of the express car, 
and all the passengers, at Big Springs station, which 
event had occurred just after nightfall that same 
evening. It was a great sensation at the time, and 
interest in it has not yet ceased to operate on the 
public mind. A brief account of the robbery, and 
pursuit and death of several of the robbers, will 
not be regarded out of place in this volume, inas- 
much as some of the robbers had an acquaintance 
with the principal characters who are the subjects of 
this work. 

The train from the Pacific slope arrived at Big 
Springs on the evening of September i/th, 1877, a 
little after nightfall. No sooner had the locomotive 
come to a standstill at the little station, than a band 
of seven men, all of whom wore red bandana hand- 
kerchiefs on their heads, which fell over and con- 
cealed their faces, sprang upon the train with drawn 
revolvers. Four of the men guarded the engineer, 
and entered the express car. Wells, Fargo & Co.'s 
safe contained ^62,000 in gold. This was opened, 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 317 

and the contents taken out and deposited in a sack 
which one of the robbers carried. Another one 
kept guard over the train's crew, and two men, 
well armed with heavy revolvers, went through the 
train to take the purses, watches and jewelry of the 
passengers. One of the fellows carried a sack, and 
whenever the other handed him a watch, a pock- 
etbook or some jewelry, he thrust it into the recep- 
tacle which he carried along. There were many 
passengers, and they were on a long journey. Many 
fine watches, much valuable jewelry, and innumera- 
ble pocketbooks were collected in the sack, in a mis- 
cellaneous heap. When the golden treasures of the 
express safe, and the valuables of the passengers 
were all secured, the brigands released the train and 
rode away over the plains. The train then pro- 
ceeded eastward, by Brule and to Ogallala. The 
particulars of the robbery were detailed, and the in- 
habitants of those places were aroused by the intelli- 
gence. It was late and nothing could be done that 
night. 

The next morning the " stockmen " were in camp 
as usual, and Mr. Leach and some others of the in- 
habitants of Ogallala were preparing to hunt the 
robbers. 

Mr. M. F. Leach had performed some amateur de- 
tective work, and had exhibited so much acuteness 
that he was regarded as one of the ablest catchers 
of law-breakers in the West. He was at once se- 
cured to work up the great train robbery. To him 



3l8 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

is due the larger share of the credit for tracking 
down the Big Springs bandits. And the men Leach 
had to deal with were keen, adroit, and endowed 
with extraordinary effrontery. We cannot enter 
into detail concerning his remarkable pursuit of Sam 
Bass and his companions, from Ogallala. A full 
narrative would fill a volume. To show the charac- 
ter of the men with whom he had to deal, we will 
relate an anecdote of a meeting he had with Jim 
Berry, one of the gang, the morning after the rob- 
bery. As before stated, the ** stockmen," who were 
no other than the brigands, had returned to their 
camp at Ogallala, and were there as if nothing had 
happened, the morning after the robbery. Leach 
was preparing to go after the robbers. He encoun- 
tered Jim Berry, who addressed him in a familiar 
manner : 

" Well, are you going out after those fellows ? " 

" Yes," said Leach, " that's what I am going to 
do." 

** I wonder what they would give me to go along? 
I might be of service to them." 

** Well, I can say," said Leach, " that you would 
certainly receive a liberal compensation for any ser- 
vice you may be able to render." 

The two men talked together some time, but Berry 
did not go on the hunt for the train robbers. Mr. 
Leach proceeded out the road to Sidney, in Chey- 
enne county, not forgetting on his way to stop off at 
Big Springs to find, if possible, some clue to the 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 3I9 

robbers' course after leaving that place. He found 
part of a red bandana handkerchief, which he se- 
cured, and went on to Sidney in a special train which 
had been provided for his use. A careful examina- 
tion of the situation in that place was barren of re- 
sults, and Mr. Leach returned to Ogallala. The 
"stockmen " had remained in camp two days after 
the robbery, and then they had marched away — 
whither — no one knew. Leach had brought with 
him the piece of red bandana from Big Springs. He 
was sure the goods had come from his store in Ogal- 
lala. While looking about the deserted camp of the 
"stockmen," Leach discovered the other piece of the 
bandana which he had brought from Big Springs. 
The ragged edges of the two pieces fitted exactly. 
The inevitable inference was that the " stockmen " 
were the robbers. The direction taken by them was 
not known, but Leach soon discovered their trail. 
Then commenced one of the most remarkable pur- 
suits ever known. Leach ascertained that the rob- 
bers would probably cross the Kansas Pacific rail- 
road at Buffalo Station, Gove county, Kansas. He 
was ever on their track, and on many occasions he 
escaped with his life in a marvelous manner. Once 
he saw them count the spoils of the robbery, and 
divide the money, watches and jewelry among them- 
selves. Then he sent a rancheman a long distance, 
a hundred miles or more, with a dispatch to the 
commandant at Fort Hayes to have a guard of sol- 
diers at Buffalo. The bandits divided into couples, 



320 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

and pursued their course. At Buffalo, some of the 
robbers and the soldiers had a conflict, and Billy 
Heffndge and Jim Collins were killed. Sam Bass, 
Jack Davis and two others escaped. Jim Berry 
made toward Missouri. It was ascertained that he 
would probably return to Callaway county, and de- 
tectives were at once hurried into that county and 
quietly waited around Fulton and Portland for the 
appearance of ** the game." 

One day Jim Berry made his appearance at Mexi- 
co, in Audrain county, Missouri. It was known that 
he had been in the Black Hills, and when he went to 
the bank in Mexico with a large amount of gold 
coin, principally twenty dollar pieces, to exchange 
it for currency, the circumstance seems to have 
aroused no suspicion at the time. Berry then " went 
on a big bender." While in Mexico he had ordered 
a suit of clothes from a tailor there. In a few days, 
information was received by Sheriff Glascock that 
Jim Berry was known to have been engaged in the 
Big Springs robbery. Concerning this nothing was 
said at the time, but the sheriff made all necessary 
preparations, and patiently abided his time to make 
an attempt to capture Jim Berry. One day, an old 
comrade of Berry made his appearance in Mexico, 
bearing an order on the tailor to " deliver to the 
bearer" the new suit of clothes which had been or- 
dered by Berry. This fact was at once communica- 
ted to Sheriff Glascock by the tailor. The friend of 
Berry was seized, and persuaded in a manner 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 321 

frequently employed by officers of the law, to reveal 
the whereabouts of his friend. 

The friend of Berry was a man named Bose Kazy, 
Sheriff Glascock and John Carter were in company 
when Kazy was seized. The sheriff then called to 
his aid John Coons, Robert Steele, and a young man 
named Moore. They then set out, compelling Kazy 
to act as a guide. It was on Saturday night, Octo- 
ber 14, 1877, when the party rode quietly away 
from Mexico, on their way to Callaway county, to 
find the lurking-place of Jim Berry, " the best man 
in Callaway." It was a long ride. Daylight had 
not dawned on the landscape Sunday morning when 
the officers arrived within a half-mile of Kazy's 
house. They did not go to the house to alarm those 
slumbering there. The officers took Kazy into the 
woods and bound him to a tree, leaving Robert 
Steele to guard him. They then secreted them- 
selves in thickets to await results. As the men 
in the posse were assigned to their respective sta- 
tions, the sheriff gave the following command : 

" Boys, if you see him, halt him ; if he shows fight, 
shoot him ; if he runs, shoot him in the legs. Catch 
him, at all hazards." 

Half an hour after giving this order. Sheriff Glas- 
cock heard the neigh of a horse about half a mile 
away, as he judged. The sheriff and Moore then 
crept cautiously about three hundred yards down 
the course of a branch. They came to a fence, and 
crossed over it. They discovered the tracks of a 

20 



322 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

horse, freshly made. They were in a thicket at this 
time, and listening intently. In a few moments they 
heard the snort of a horse, apparently not more than 
fifty yards away. The sheriff then crawled through 
the thicket about twenty yards toward the spot 
from whence the sound had proceeded. He was on 
his knees, and, cautiously peering through the 
autumn-tinted kaves of the tangled thicket, he saw 
the back of a horse, about forty yards away. Lay- 
ing aside his hat, Sheriff Glascock crept twenty 
yards nearer. He then rose to his feet and saw Jim 
Berry unhitching the horse, which had been tied to 
a tree. Berry started to lead the horse in a direction 
nearly toward Glascock. The sheriff cocked both 
barrels of the breech-loading gun which he carried, 
ran about twenty yards and within twenty feet of 
Berry, and commanded him to halt. Berry, taken 
by surprise, started on a run. The sheriff then fired. 
The charge of buckshot passed over the head of the 
train robber, but in an inst mt he fired again, and 
this time seven buckshot took effect in Berry's left 
leg, below the knee, and he fell to the ground. 
Glascock sprang forward. Berry was endeavoring 
to draw a pistol, as he lay writhing on the ground. 
It was too late; the sheriff was upon him, and, seiz- 
ing the pistol, he wrested it from the grasp of Berry. 
Finding himself overpowered, the wounded man, in 
his helplessness, besought the sheriff to shoot him, 
as he did not want to live any longer. The officer 
told him that he did not want to kill him, but that 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 323 

he wanted him to have justice. By this time Moore 
arrived on the scene. Berry was wounded and de- 
fenseless in the hands of the officers of the law. 

Sheriff Glascock then summoned the other mem- 
bers of the posse to the scene of the conflict. When 
they had arrived, Berry was searched. In a belt 
worn on his person they found five ;^500 packages of 
money, and in his pocketbook was found ^^304 ; in 
all, ;^2,804 were secured. Berry also had a gold 
watch and chain, a dress-coat, three overcoats and a 
comforter. He had slept there in the thicket the 
night before. Afterward, Berry was removed to 
Kazy's house, and a messenger was sent to Williams- 
burg for a surgeon. 

After taking breakfast at Kazy's, Sheriff Glascock 
and John Carter proceeded to Berry's house to 
search for the balance of the money. Arriving 
there, they asked Mrs. Berry concerning the where- 
abouts of her husband. She did not know; had not 
seen him for several days, and she thought he had 
left the country. The sheriff then showed her Ber- 
ry's watch and chain. On seeing it, one of the little 
children exclaimed: 

** Oh ! I thought that was papa's ! " 

Poor child ! Perhaps it was too young to fully 
comprehend the tragic meaning of those tokens. 

To Mrs. Berry the whole story of the tragedy in 
the thicket that Sunday morning was repeated. In 
response, she said, 

" I never thoucrht he would be taken alive. He 



324 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

has said a great many times that he would never be 
taken alive." 

Then ensued a scene deeply affecting. The rob- 
ber had those at home who loved him. The wife 
and mother began to weep bitterly, and the wailings 
of her little boy and five little girls, made a scene 
calculated to touch the deep chords of emotion in the 
breasts of the stern men, who in the performance of 
lawful duty had been compelled to inflict all this 
misery on the family of the robber. 

They searched the house, but they found no 
hoards of money. Then Glascock and Carter re- 
turned to Kazy's, a conveyance was procured, and 
the officer and his posse with their wounded prisoner 
set out for Mexico, where they arrived late in the 
evening. Berry was placed in a room in the Ringo 
House, and received the attention of Dr. Russell, of 
Mexico. Berry's wounds were painful, and he did 
not rally from their effects. On Monday, gangrene 
supervened, and a little before I o'clock Tuesday, 
October i6th, 1877, Jim Berry, one of the robbers of 
the train at Big Springs, quietly passed over the dark 
river, and the records of his stormy career were 
closed forever. 

Sam Bass escaped from Buffalo station, and finally, 
after many thrilling adventures, reached his haunts 
in Texas. A little more than one year afterward 
he met his fate in a manner equally as tragic as the 
event which closed the career of Jim Berry. 

Of the seven men who plundered the train and its 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. , 325 

■ passengers at Big Springs, Billy Heffridge, Jim Col- 
lins, Jim Berry, Sam Bass, and one other, have met 
violent deaths. The robber who went by the name 
of Jack Davis has disappeared. The seventh man — 
the only one whose name was never ascertained by 
the detectives — succeeded in getting away. Who 
he was, from whence he came, and whither he went, 
are, until this day, unanswered questions. 

Much speculation in regard to the identity of the 
seventh man, whom we shall call the Unknown, has 
been indulged in, and the question has been asked. 
Was it Jesse James ? or was it Jack Bishop, Dave 
Pool, John Jarrette or Jim Cummings? We have 
no means of answering such interrogatories. Who- 
ever the Unknown is or was, he has probably not a 
single comrade of the occasion alive, and is there- 
fore in little danger of being betrayed. 

There are people who believe that Jesse James 
was with the Big Springs bandits. Upon what par- 
ticular grounds such belief is based, we have been 
unable to ascertain. He may or may not have been 
present. Our readers may well be left free to draw 
their own inferences. But certain it is, a mystery, 
which perhaps may forever remain such, surrounds 
the personality of one of the daring raiders who ac- 
complished one of the greatest robberies which has 
yet taken place on any American railroad. 



CHAPTER XLV. 

A VISIT TO FRANK JAMEs' HOME. 

•• In Southern climes where ardent gleams the sun, 

Gilding each rivulet, and tree, and flower, 
With crimson radiance — and gaily flings 

On all around of light a golden shower — 
Where lavish nature mingles in the breeze. 

Refreshing odors with her spicy hand ; 
The rare Nepenthes wave their flexile form, 

The floral wonder of that fragrant land." 

During the autumn of the year 1878, a young 
gentleman of the highest respectabihty, a citizen of 
the State of Georgia, being on a tour through 
Texas, expressed to his friends a desire to make the 
personal acquaintance of the celebrated outlaws, 
Frank and Jesse James. His friends endeavored to 
dissuade him from making the attempt to see them 
at their own retreat. They represented to him that 
such an undertaking would be fraught with no little 
personal danger. The Boys have been hounded and 
hunted over so large a territory, through so many 
years, that they have become extremely cautious, 
and very suspicious of all strangers. 

But the young Georgian was courageous and de- 
termined. There was a tinge of romance in his 
composition, and the career of the Boys, to his 
mind, was the most romantic in all history. He felt 

326 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 327 

that he would venture farther to see them than to 
beliold the face of any living man. The advice of 
his friends fell unheeded upon his ear. He resolved 
to seek their retreat at whatever hazard. He had 
learned to admire their cool bravery, indomitable en- 
ergy, and shrewd ability to evade the snares laid for 
them by the officers of the law. 

The Jameses, outlaws as they are, do not want for 
friends. They have devoted admirers and staunch 
friends even in the ranks of respectable circles — 
persons who would suffer death rather than betray 
them. Such a friend was a Texas relative of the 
young Georgian. Finding that his kinsman was re- 
solved upon a visit — that he would in all probability 
be able to discover the retreat of the outlaws, and, 
believing that he might possibly meet with a misfor- 
tune by venturing to penetrate to their place, the 
Texan gave his relative a letter addressed to a cer- 
tain name — which is not that of James — described 
the route to be taken, and gave a minute description 
of the personnel of the renowned desperadoes, and 
with many admonitions and cautions, after having 
solemnly pledged his kinsman to reveal nothing con- 
cerning the exact whereabouts of their home, the 
Texan bid his Georgia kinsman God-speed, and they 
parted. 

Many days he rode over the plains, and crossed 
many a limpid stream, and pushed his way through 
many a tangled wold before he approached the re- 
treat of the outlaws. He found it, however, but in 



3^8 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

what county or division of the state, he dedines to 
say. 

In a letter written to the author, subsequent to 
that visit, he gave a most interesting account of his 
reception and sojourn with the outlawed brothers on 
their own ranche. We have obtained his permission 
to use that portion of the letter relating to the 
Jameses, which we herewith present to our readers : 

" It was a lovely afternoon. The grass was brown 
and sere. A few late autumn flowers relieved the 
otherwise monotonous landscape. The country 
through which I was passing was high, undulating 
prairie. Here and there, from the tops of the long 
swells in the surface, the course of streams far away 
to the right and the left, were well defined by dark 
lines of trees from which the foliage had not yet 
been cast. The journey had become lonely and 
irksome. I had lost interest in the landscape. The 
faded grass and the golden-hued flowers no longer 
possessed charms for me. The limpid brooks and 
darting minnows in their clear waters even failed to 
awaken the slightest interest. The truth is, I was 
worn out by the excessive fatigue of the long jour- 
ney. 

" I had just crossed a small stream, skirted by 
some wind-twisted trees, and was ascending a long 
slope. Looking toward the crest of the ridge, I 
saw two horsemen, splendidly mounted, riding rap- 
idly directly toward me. They wore low-crowned, 
broad-brimmed felt hats, looped up at the side. I 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 329 

could see at a glance that they were heavily armed. 
A repeating-rifle was swung behind the shoulder of 
each, and a holster was attached at the saddle-bow. 
When the horsemen had approached within seventy- 
five yards of me, they suddenly halted, and each 
drew a heavy pistol, and simultaneously presented 
them at me, calling out at the same time for me to 
raise my hands. I confess that I felt a little shaky 
about that time. I readily complied with their 
command, and held up both hands as high over my 
head as possible. The horrible thought occurred to 
me that I was to be shot, and left out there to make 
a feast for voracious vultures and ferocious wolves. 
A cold shudder thrilled through my veins. I had 
dropped the reins, and my horse stopped still. It 
was a dreadful moment. There were the two men, 
grim in features and steady of hand, with their hor- 
rible, yawning repeaters pointed at my heart. I felt 
sure they were murderous highwaymen. Strange 
that I never once thought of the renowned outlaws ! 
I know not how long I looked at those dreadful pis- 
tols ; it seemed half an age. I was aroused by the 
voice of one of the men calling out, 

** ' Why don't you come on ? ' 

" I did go on. Once I let my hands droop slightly, 
as I advanced up the slope. 

" 'Up with your hands, I say ! ' exclaimed one of 
them. 

" You may readily suppose that I threw up my 
hands without further admonition. 



330 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

"When I had arrived within fifteen paces of the 
spot where the men were sitting on their horses, the 
thoug-ht that these were no other than the men 
whom I was seeking, flashed through my brain. 

" * What are you doing here ?' asked tlie larger one 
of the two. 

" I must have stammered a Httle, and appeared 
awkward and frightened as I made answer that I 

had a great desire to meet Mr. and his 

brother — naming the person to whom the letter was 

addressed — and I have a message for Mr. here 

with me now. 

** One of them — it was Frank — turned to me 
sharply, and asked me what I knew about Mr. 
. I told him that I had never met the gen- 
tleman, but that I had a great desire to do so. He 
then asked me when I was last in St. Louis. I re- 
plied that I had not been in St. Louis for a period of 
more than five years. ' What are you doing here ?' 
he asked. * Looking about the country,' I replied. 
* You like it, do you ? ' he inquired. ' Very well,' I 
said. 'You go to Chicago, do you?' 'Never was 
there in my life,* I answered. * Do you know Allan 
Pinkerton ? ' ' I don't,' I said. ' What state do you 
hail from ? ' ' Georgia.' ' A very good state,' he so- 
liloquized. ' From whom did you say you had a 

message for Mr. ?' ' From Col. , of ,' 

I answered. ' You know where you can find ?* 

' I do not.' * Give me the message ; I'll see that he gets 
it.' 'Are you Mr. ? ' ' No matter,' he answered. 



PRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 3J1 

* I'll see that he gets the communication.' ' But I've 
come all the way here to see him myself. I do not want 
to go back without seeing him,' I remarked. * What 
do you want to see him for?' ' Well,' I stammered, 
' I have heard a great deal about him and his brother, 
and I just wanted to visit them at home.' 'You 
know who he is then ?' * Certainly, he is Jesse 

James and .' 'An outlaw!' he interrupted me. 

'Mind how you act, young man.' The tones of his 
voice were dry and harsh, and the pistol which had 
been allowed to droop was once more raised, and 
pointed at my breast. 

" You may be sure I was thoroughly alarmed, and 
it required some effort to speak distinctly. At last. 
I managed to say in a tolerably low tone, * I wish 
you would read this letter which I have brought.' 
The pistol was lowered and he reached out his hand 
to take the letter from the breast-pocket of my coat. 
Meanwhile, Frank kept me under cover of a pistol. 
Jesse secured the letter, and commenced to read it. 
I watched his features closely. A change came over 
his countenance. The cold, stern look relaxed, and 
his face put on a sunny smile as he read on. When 
he had finished, he turned to Frank and said, ' I guess 
this is all right' Then he turned to me and said, 

'So you are a kinsman of Colonel ?' 'I am,' I 

replied. He continued, ' He is a good friend of 
ours, and I reckon you're ^1 right. You wanted 
to see the James Boys. You see before you what is 
left of them. I guess you had better give us your 



332 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

pistols to keep for you until you are ready to leave 
again, for you know we are the only armed men 
allowed around our place. This is a very odd world 
anyhow. We do not trust anyone.' * I have but 
one, and here it is,' I said, presenting it to him, 
while I held the muzzle. He took the pistol and 
thrust it into a side-pocket, and turning full toward 
me, he said with a smile on his face, and a merry 
twinkle in his bright blue eyes : * So you wantea to 
see the ;/^/'(?r/^2/^ outlaws ?' 'Yes.* 'Well, did you 
expect we wore horns, and had split feet, and spouted 
fire and brimstone, eh? But you see you are mis- 
taken. There are a hundred, yes, a thousand, worse 
men along the borders here than the James Boys. 
But they have not been lied about as we have been ; 
they have not been hunted all over the states as we 
have been ; they have not been so grossly misrepre 
sented and abused, and we must bear not only our 
sins, but the sins of many others. It is a pretty hard 
fate, young man.' The hard, unpitying expression 
came upon his features once more, but it was only 
for a moment, and the cloud passed away, and his 
countenance was illuminated by a smile that was 
genial and pleasant, and whoever could have gazed 
into the face of Jesse James at that moment, would 
not have concluded that he was a desperado and an 
outlaw. 

"* I suppose,' said Frank, 'that you will accept an 
outlaw's invitation to his humble retreat ?' ' Most 
gladly,' I said. 




333 



334 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

" They turned their horses' heads, and Jesse taking 
a position on one side and Frank on the other, we 
rode on to the crest of the ridge. 'There is where 
we camp,' said Frank, as he pointed away to the 
northwest. Camp ! Indeed, it seemed more Hke 
the residence of a well-to-do planter in Georgia. The 
situation which they had selected was beautiful as 
any I had yet seen in the West. Before us a broad, 
green valley lay spread out in the sunlight, bounded 
by a line of high hills toward the northeast, and 
widening toward the southwest. A noble grove of 
timber skirted the margin of the stream, which ap- 
peared to be of considerable size, and meandered 
through the valley. Beyond the stream and the 
grove, situated on a gentle slope in the midst of gar- 
dens and cultivated fields, and vigorous young trees, 
rose a pleasant house of two stories in elevation, 
with a garden in front. Some distance away 
were the barns, stables and other outbuildings. * A 
lovely home!' I exclaimed. Frank smiled at my 
evident delight, and remarked that he found it ver}' 
comfortable, after the exposure and hardships 
through which he had passed. 

" So we rode on down the slope into the grove, 
and across a beautiful broad pebble-bottom stream, 
and up the slope to the front of the mansion, talking, 
by the way, of many things in the past, ^nd ex- 
pressing views and opinions concerning the future. 

"The James Boys are far from being loquacious. 
They seem to maintain a perpetual guard over their 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 335 

words. Sometimes this reserve is momentarily cast 
aside, and the brothers will converse with consider- 
able freedom. But the fits of relaxation do not last 
long. They speedily relapse into their accustomed 
reticent state, and then they answer questions only in 
monosyllables. 

"It was not long before I discovered that I was at 
the home of Frank James, and that Jesse and his 
family were only visitors. My peculiar reception 
was due to the fact that a person supposed to be a 
detective, had been making inquiries concerning the 
Boys at San Antonio, some weeks before my ar- 
rival. 

"Arriving at the yard gate, we dismounted, and I 
was invited into the house. At the door we were 
met by a neatly dressed and handsome lady, whose 
deep blue eyes and regular features produced a fa- 
vorable impression at once, to whom I was intro- 
duced. It was Mrs. Frank James. She received 
me with much dignity, yet with a genial cordiality 
which assured me that I was a welcome visitor. 
Her manner toward her husband was trusting and 
affectionate. * We welcome you,' said Frank, * as a 
relative of one of our best friends. We hope you 

will prove as manly as he. Annie, this is Mr. , 

a near relative of Colonel , who was so kind to 

you when you arrived at , on your way out 

here.' * I am very, very glad to meet you. We all 

feel extremely grateful to Col. , for his kindness 

toward us, and we are only too glad to serve any of 
his friends,' she said. 



33^ IIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

**Such was the welcome which I received at the 
home of Franl: James. I felt myself quite at ease 
very soon, and the four days and nights which I 
spent under their hospitable roof gave no occasion 
for me to think hard of the outlaws. Indeed, I 
could not bring myself to think of them in that light. 
Mrs. James is a lady who is suited by education and 
disposition to grace any circle. And where is this 
model home ? you ask. Well, it is in Texas — just 
what part of Texas I must leave you to find out. I 
know that I r ever met with better treatment in any 
home, anywhere," 



CHAPTER XLVU 

EPISTLES OF JESSE JAMES. 

Jesse James is not an educated man in the scho- 
lastic sense of that term. In this respect he differs 
widely from his brother Frank, who has a fair knowl- 
edge of the Latin and Greek languages, and is said 
to be able to converse fluently in the Spanish and 
German tongues. Frank was a college student when 
the war was commenced, and Jesse a school boy in a 
country place. He had made some progress, had 
learned to " read, write and cipher," and was wrest- 
ling with " the knotty intricacies " of English Gram- 
mar and Geography, when his career in school was 
stopped short by the political events occurring about 
him. 

It cannot be expected that Jesse's literary per- 
formances should exhibit the classic finish of an Ad- 
dison or an Irving, and yet barring his faulty or- 
thography, his style is direct and pointed, and under 
other circumstances he might have become a very 
good newspaper reporter. Although Jesse is defi- 
cient in the command of language to express his 
views in accordance with the canons of literary crit- 
icism, yet his letters, if not elegant specimens oi^ 
composition, are at least vigorous and clear. It 
is a matter of regret that so few specimens of his 
21 337 



3 33 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

epistolary ability are available. We have succeeded 
in obtaining copies of a few of his letters, but unf;jr- 
tunately none which reveal the domestic relations 
and characteristics of the man. Such of Jesse's let- 
ters as we have been able to secure, which have any 
interest for the public, we present in this chapter. 

The following note was addressed from Jesse to 
"a friend" in Missouri, and came into the hands of 
a gentleman who, for reasons which the author is 
bound to respect, desires his name to be withheld. 
The orthography alone is revised. The year, it will 
be observed, is not given. 

COMMANCHE, Texas, June loth. 
Dear Jim : 

I hear they are raaking a great fuss about old Dan Askew, 
and say the James Boys done the killing. It's one. of old 
Pink's lies, circulated by his sneaks. I can prove that I was in Texas, 
at Dallas, on the 12th of May, when the killing was done. Several 
persons of the highest respectability know that I could not have been 
in Clay county, Missouri, at that time. I might name a number who 
could swear to this, whose words would be taken anywhere. It's my 
opinion Askew was killed by Jack Ladd and some of Pinkerton's men. 
But no meanness is ever done now but the James Boys must bear the 
blame for it. This is hke the balance of the lies they tell about me 
and my brother. I wish you would correct the lies the Kansas City 
papers have printed about the shooting of old Askew, and oblige, 

Yours faithfully, 
Jesse. 
The date of the murder of Askew, given in the 
above letter, is wrong. That event occurred on the 
night of April 12th, and not May, as the writer of the 
above note assumes. 



The following is a characteristic note. It contains 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 339 

several allusions unintelligible to the uninitiated. It 
was written to an old comrade, who long ago aban- 
doned a "wildlife," and is living as a respectable 
citizen. 

Ft. Worth, March loth, 1877. 

Dear : 

The beeves will soon be ready. As soon as the roads 
dry up, and the streams run down, we will drive. We ex- 
pect'to take a good bunch of cattle in. You may look out. There 
will be plenty of bellowing after the drive. Remember, it is business. 
The range is good, I learn, between Sidney and Deadwood. We may 
go to pasture somewhere in that region. You will hear of it. Tell 
Sam to come to Honey Grove, Texas, before the * drive season ' 
comes. There's money in the stock. As ever, Jesse J. 



The following letter was obtained in Colorado, by 

a gentleman who claims to be well acquainted with 

the handwriting of Jesse James, and claims that it 

was dropped by Jack Bishop. As to its authenticity, 

we leave the reader to judge. It is in style much 

such a letter as Jesse James might have written. 

Rest Ranch, Texas, January 23d. 
Dear Jack : 

We had a little fun on the other side of the line lately. 
A lot of Greasers came over and broke up several ranches. 
Some of us were down that way, and *' the cow-boys " wanted us to 
help them and we done it. Some of our cattle had been taken, and I 
don't owe the yellow legs anything good anyhow. Well, we left some 
half a dozen or more for carrion-bird meat. We brought the cattle 
back. I was confounded glad we met some cavalry out after raiders. 
There was a big lot of them motley scamps, and we would have had a 
pretty rough time, I expect. But die sneaks got back as fast as they 
could. You would have enjoyed tlie racket. As ever yours, 

J.W.J, 



340 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

The last letter, to an individual, which we here 
present, is vouched for as being in the handwriting 
of Jesse James, by Marshal James Liggett. It was 
written to George W. Shepherd about two weeks 
after the Glendale train robbery. In this, as in the 
other notes given above, we have revised the or- 
thography, without correcting the grammatical 
errors. The letter is without date, and runs as 
follows : 

Friend George: 

I can't wait for you here. I want you to meet me on 
Rogues Island, and we will talk about that business we spoke 
of. I would wait for you, but the boys wants to leave here. 
Don't fail to come, and if we don't buy them cattle, I will come back 
with you. Come to the place where we met going south that time, 
and stay in that neighborhood until I find you. Your friend, 

J. 

On many occasions Jesse has written, or caused to 
be written, exculpatory letters for publication in the 
public journals. We present a few of these as spec- 
imens of Jesse's epistolary style, and because of the 
interesting character of their allusions to his own 
conduct. Jt will be observed that the dates of out- 
rages on banks and railways, are wrong in several 
instances, as given in these letters. For instance : 

The following communication appeared in the 
Nashville (Tenn.) Banner, of July loth, 1875 : 

Ray Town, Mo., July 5th, 1875. 
Gentlemen : 

As my attention has been called, recently, to tlie notice of 
several sensational pieces copied fi-om the Nashville Union and 
American, stating that the Jameses and Youngers are in Kentucky, 



^RANK AND JESSE JAMES. 34i 

1 ask space in your valuable paper to say a few words in my defence. 
I would treat these reports with silent contempt, but I have many 
friends in Kentucky and Nashville that I wish to know that these re- 
ports are false and without foundation. I have never been out of Mis- 
souri since the Amnesty Bill was introduced into the Missouri Legisla- 
ture, last March, asking for pardon for the James and Younger Boys. 
I am in constant communication with Governor Hardin, Sheriff Groom, 
of Clay co'unty, Mo., and several other honorable county and state 
ofiicials, and there are hundreds of persons in Missouri who will swear 
that I have not been in Kentucky. There are desperadoes roving 
round in Kentucky, and it is probably very important for the officials 
of Kentucky to be vigilant. If a robbery is committed in Kentucky 
to-day, detective Bligh, of Louisville, would telegraph all over the 
United States that the Jame"s and Younger Boys did it, just as he did 
when the Columbia, Kentucky, bank was robbed, April 29th, 1872. 
Old Bly, the Sherman bummer, who is keeping up all the sensational 
reports in Kentucky, and if the truth was known, I am satisfied some 
of the informers are concerned in many robberies charged to the James 
and Younger Boys for ten years. The radical papers in Missouri and 
other states have charged nearly every daring robbery in America to 
the James and Younger Boys. It is enough for the northern papers to 
persecute us without the papers of the south ; the land we fought for 
for four years, to save from Northern tyranny, to be persecuted by pa- 
pers claiming to be Democratic, is against reason. The people of the 
south have only heard one side of the report. I will give a true his- 
tory of the lives of the James and Younger Boys to tlie Banner in the 
future ; or rather a sketch of our lives. We have not only been perse- 
cuted, but on the night of the 25th of January', 1875, at the midnight 
hour, nine Chicago assassins and Sherman bummers, led by Billy Pin- 
kerton, Jr., crept up to my mother's house and hurled a missile of war 
(a 32-pound shell) in a room among innocent women and children, 
murdering my eight year old brother and tearing my mother's right 
arm off, and wounding several others of the family, and then firing the 
house in seven places. The radical papers here in Missouri have re- 
peatedly charged the Russellville, Kentucky, bank robbery to the James 
and Younger Boys, while it is well known, that on the day of the rob- 
bery, March 20th, 1869, I was at the Chaplin Hotel in Chaplin, Nelson 
county, Kentucky, which I can prove by Mr. Tom i\Larshall, the pro- 
prietor, and fifty otliers ; and on that day my brotlier Frank was at 



34^ LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

work on the Laponsu Ranch in San Luis Obispo county, California, 
for J. D P. Thompson, which can be proven by the sheriff of San Luis 
Obispo county, and many others. Frank was in Kentucky the winter 
previous to the robbery, but he left Alexander Sayer's, in Nelson coun_ 
ty, January 25th, 1868, and sailed from New York City, January the 
i6th, which the books of the United States mail hne of steamers will 
show. Probably I have written too much, and probably not enough, 
but I hope to write much more to the Banner in the future, I will 
close by sending my kindest regards to old Dr. Eve, and many thanks 
to him for kindness to me when I was wounded and under his care. 

Yours respectfully, 
Jesse James. 

The following communications appeared in the 
Kansas City Times during the excitement succeed- 
ing the great train robbery at Rocky Cut, near Otter- 
ville, Missouri. The first one appeared in the Times 
in its edition of August 14th, 1876, and the second 
one came out on the morning of the 23d of the same 
month. 

JESSE JAMES' FIRST LETTER. 

Oak Grove, Kan., August 14, 1876. 

You have published Hobbs- Kerry's confession, which makes it ap- 
pear that the Jameses and the Youngers were the Rocky Cut robbers. 
If there was only one side to be told, it would probably be believed 
by a good many people that Kerry has told the truth. But his so- 
called confession is a well-built pack of lies from beginning to end. 
I never heard of Hobbs Kerry, Charles Pitts and William Chadwell 
until Kerry's arrest. I can prove my innocence by eight good, well- 
known men of Jackson county, and show conclusively that I was not 
at the train robbery. But at present I will only give the names of 
two of those gentlemen to whom I will refer for proof. 

Early on the morning after the train robbery east of Sedalia, I saw 
the Hon. D. Gregg, of Jackson county, and talked with him for thirty 
or forty minutes. I also saw and talked to Thomas Pitcher, of Jack- 
son county, the morning after the robbery. Those two men's oaths 
cannot be impeached, so I refer the grand jury of Cooper county, Mo., 



i^RANK AND JESSE JAMES. 343 

and Gov. Hardin to those men before they act so rashly on the oath of 
a liar, thief and robber. 

Kerry knows that the Jameses and Youngers can't be taken alive, 
and that is why he has put it on us. I have referred to Messrs. 
Pitcher and Gregg because they are prominent men, and they know I am 
mnocent, and tlieir word can't be disputed. I will write a long arti- 
cle to you for the Tivies, and send it to you in a few days, showing 
fully how Hobbs Kerry has lied. Hoping the Times will give me a 
chance for a fair hearing and to vindicate myself through its columns, 
I will close, 

Respectfully, 

J. James. 



SECOND LETTER. 

Safe Retreat, Aug. 18, 1876. 

I have written a great many articles vindicating myself of the false 
charges that have been brought against me. Detectives have been try- 
ing for years to get positive proof against me for some criminal offense, 
so that they could get a large reward offered for me, dead or alive ; 
and the same by Frank James and the Younger boys, but they have 
been foiled on every turn, and they are fully convinced that we will 
never be taken alive, and now they have fell on the deep-laid scheme 
to get Hobbs Kerry to tell a pack of base lies. But, thank God, I am 
yet a free man, and have got the power to defend myself against the 
charge brought against me by Kerry, a notorious liar and poltroon. I 
will give a full statement and prove his confession false. 

Lie No. I. He said a plot was laid by the Jameses and Youngers 
to rob the Granby bank. I am reliably informed that there never was 
a bank in Granby. 

Lie No. 2. He said he met with Cole Younger and me at Mr. 
Tyler's. If there is a man in Jackson county by that name, I am sure 
that I am not acquainted with him. 

Lie No. 3. He said Frank James was at Mr. Butler's, in Cass 
county. I and Frank don't know any man in Cass county by that 
name. I can prove my innocence by eight good citizens of Jackson 
county, Mo., but I do not propose to give all their names at present. 
If I did, those cut-throat detectives would find out where I am. 

My opinion is that Bacon Montgomery, the scoundrel who murdered 
Capt. A. J. Clements, December 13, 1866, is the instigator of all this 



344 LIF2 AND ADVENTURES OP 

Missouri Pacific affair. I believe he planned the robbery and got his 
share of the money, and when he went out to look for the robbers he 
led the pursuers off the robbers' trail. If the truth was half told about 
Montgomery, it would make the world beUeve that Monta,omery has no 
equal, only the Bender family and the midnight assassins who mur- 
dered my poor, helpless and innocent eight-year old brother, and shot 
my mother's arm off; and I am of opinion he had a hand in that 
dirty, cowardly work. The detectives are a brave lot of boys — charge 
houses, break down doors and make the gray hairs stand up on the 
heads of unarmed victims. Why don't President Grant have the sol- 
diers called in and send the detectives out on special trains after the 
hostile Indians? A. M. Pinkerton's force, with hand-grenades, and 
they will kill all the women and children, and as soon as the women 
and children are killed it will stop the breed, and the warriors will die 
out in a few years. I believe the railroad robbers will yet be sified 
down on some one at St. Louis or Sedaha putting up the job and 
then trying to have it put on innocent men, as Kerry has done. 

Hoping the Times will pubhsh just as I have written, I will close. 

Jesse James. 



CHAPTER XLVIK 

GLEN DALE. 

The eastern part of Jackson county, the western 
part of Lafayette, and down southward through Cass 
county, constitute the very center of the field 
of operation chosen by the old Guerrilla leaders — 
Quantrell, Todd, Anderson, Younger, Pool, Clements, 
and the Jameses — during the war. The Sni hills and 
the timber-crowned undulations bordering the Big 
Blue, afforded them excellent hiding places when 
sorely pressed, and from their fastnesses in the hills 
they could easily make forays into the very suburbs 
of the garrisoned towns of Kansas City, Independ- 
ence, Lexington, Pleasant Hill and Harrisonville. 
They knew every pathway over the hills, and every 
crossing place along the streams. Around and 
among these forests were the farms and dwellings of 
their friends, and warm sympathizers in their cause. 
Time has wrought some changes in the country since 
those days; but the forest-crowned hills and the 
deep, tangled thickets, and the sparkling streams 
still are there. The face of Nature h.is changed but 
little among the hills of the Sni, or along the banks 
of the Blue. It was meet that the bandits, who are 
believed to be the same men who once were Guer- 
rillas, should come back to the scenes of their earlier 
345 



34^ LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

adventures, to consummate their latest and most dar- 
ing robbery. 

October 7th, 1879, was a beautiful, sunny, warm 
day. The woods had not yet assumed the sober 
brown hues of autumn, but nature was lovely in the 
rich ripeness of the summer's close. The great tide 
of human life flowed on in its accustomed channels. 
Some were engaged in the pursuit of pleasure; 
some were in search of gain ; others were toiling for 
bread ; some were happy in having accomplished 
their designs; others were wretched in realizing the 
bitterness of disappointment; some were glad in the 
knowledge that they had contributed to the happi- 
ness of" their fellow-mortals; others were miserable 
because they beheld the gladness of their neighbors, 
and knew of the triumphs of their rivals ; some 
planned good deeds ; others plotted dark crimes. 
These all go to constitute the atoms of the mighty 
tide of human life ; and their plans, purposes and 
deeds all contribute to the production of the surges 
and swirls of the stream as it flows through time to 
the gulf of eternity. 

There were always plotters. Since the world be- 
gan men have schemed, and until the end of time 
there will be the good and the bad in humanity, 
sometimes one and sometimes the other quality pre- 
dominating. And so, while the autumn sunshine 
was golden, and the wood-cricket's chirp was mourn- 
ful, the schemers were prodding their brain in the 
devising of a scheme to commit a grievous crime. 



IfRANK ANt) JESSE JAMES, 34^ 

Glendale is a lonely wayside station in the western 
part of Lafayette county, Missouri, on the line of 
the Chicago & Alton railway, Kansas City branch. 
There is a water-tank, a little station-house, and a 
few houses in a narrow vale, wedged in between 
rugged hills, which are covered with lofty trees and 
tangled thickets, a fit place for the rendezvous of a 
banditti. 

Glendale is about twenty miles from Kansas City, 
and on the line of the road between Independence 
and Blue Springs, in the very midst of a region 
where many of the darkest crimes and deeds of 
blood which marked the Guerrilla warfare of the 
border were committed both by the Federal militia 
and the Confederate Guerrillas. The country about 
Glendale is one of the wildest regions in Western 
Missouri, and the hills and dark ravines afford excel- 
lent opportunities for the concealment of both men 
and horses. A better situation for a successful foray 
by brigands does not exist on the line of the road 
between Chicago and Kansas City. 

The night express train, bound from Kansas City 
to Chicago and St. Louis, left the Union Depot in 
the first-named city on the evening of the 7th, at six 
o'clock, and consequently was due at Glendale at 
about seven o'clock — a short time after daylight had 
faded from the west. 

Now, as we have before intimated, Glendale is a 
place with a nice name, but few inhabitants. Though 
perhaps it is not destined to go down to history with 







LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 



the historic interest attached to Arbela, Malplaquet, 
Shiloh, Kennesaw or Waterloo, yet so early in its his- 
tory Glendale has become famous. The incident 
which contributed so much to this result occurred 
on the evening of the /th of October, 1879. In ad- 
dition to the station-house, the business of Glendale 
is represented by a post-office and a general store, 
kept by the postmaster. The evening in question 
was very pleasant outside of houses, and when the 
curtains of nigRt were drawn, and the store was 
lighted, the postmaster and four others, who consti- 
tuted the male population of the place, except the 
station agent, Mr. Mclntire, had gathered in front of 
the little store to discuss the neighborhood's affairs. 
They were quietly interchanging views. Suddenly 
a stranger joined the circle, and, walking quickly to 
where the proprietor was sitting, he tapped him on 
the shoulder and said: 

" I want you." 

*' What do you want ? " asked the other. 

The new arrival did not deign to answer the ques- 
tion, but quietly stepped away, and said : 

" Here, boys." 

In a minute — nay, a moment — half a dozen rough- 
looking men, muffled and masked, stood by his side, 
armed with huge pistols and wicked-looking knives. 
Their pistols they held cocked in their hands. Then 
the leader, in a harsh, grating voice, said : 

" Now, take care, make tracks out of this I " 



I 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 349 

The terrified citizens started to obey. As they 
were going, the leader said : 

** To the depot, do you hear ! " 

In great consternation, the httle company of citi- 
zens filed away to the depot. In the depot was the 
operator and agent, Mr. Mclntire, and Mr. VV. E. 
Bridges, assistant auditor of the Chicago & Alton 
railway company, already under duress. When the 
citizens were all assembled in the room, the leader 
said : 

" Now, sit down, act clever and keep still, or you 
will not have heads left on you." 

Of course, obedience to such an order was just 
then regarded by all the parties as a great virtue, anl 
they therefore obeyed. 

The masked men, who had now assembled to the 
number of twelve, according to one account — four- 
teen by another witness — tore away the telegraphic 
instrument and went out and cut the wires. The in- 
strument was smashed. 

" Now," said the leader, whose only mask was a 
long dark beard, " I want you to lower that green 
light ! " 

" But," said the agent, "the train will stop if I do." 

*' That's the alum ! precisely what we want it to 
do, my buck, and the sooner you obey orders the 
better. I will give you a minute to lower the light," 
said the bearded leader, at the same time thrust- 
ing a cocked pistol to the face of the agent. 

The operator could see the long, bright barrel of 
the pistol and the dark, cavernous interior of ih'v 



350 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

tube had a forbidding appearance. He looked up 
into the face of the long-bearded man. He saw a 
cold, fixed look, and every indication, so far as fea- 
tures could reveal intentions, that the robber chief- 
tain meant just what he said, and he lowered the 
light. Of course the position of the light was an 
order to the conductor to stop at Glendale and re- 
ceive fresh instructions, according to the code of sig- 
nals in use among railway men. 

But to be perfectly sure of the expected plunder, 
and in order to destroy even the possibility of the 
train passing without making a stop, the robbers 
heaped a pile of cross-ties, fence rails and other lum- 
ber across the track. Having completed their prepar- 
ations, the robbers quietly awaited the coming of 
the train. 

It was a little after seven o'clock. The prisoners 
in the station-house were wondering about what 
would happen next, and especially were they con- 
cerned and anxious respecting what should happen 
to them. Then the distant rumbling of the train 
as heard ; louder and louder it fell upon the ears of 
the listeners. The engineer saw the signal displayed 
which commanded him to stop. He sounded the 
whistle and ordered the brakes on. The train stood 
still on the track, with the engine at the tank. 

The conductor, with lantern in hand, sprang upon 
the platform ere the wheels had ceased to revolve, 
and was about to proceed to the little station-house 
to receive his orders. But he had made little pro- 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 35 1 

gress in that direction, when a man rushed up to him 
with a cocked revolver, which he held out as if about 
to fire. This man was speedily joined by another, 
who was also armed in like manner. Both the men 
wore masks. Mr. Greeman, the conductor, was of 
course powerless to resist such odds, and with min- 
gled feelings of alarm and disgust was compelled to 
await the pleasure of the strange men whom he now 
knew to be robbers. Two men rushed up to the 
cab of the locomotive and made prisoners of the en- 
gineer and fireman by the presentation of pistols, 
and the stern declaration that instant death would 
certainly follow a failure to obey, or an attempt at 
resistance. One of the robbers, addressing the en- 
gineer, called out: 

** Hand me that coal hammer of yours ! " 

" What do you want of it? " asked the other. 

" Hand it here very quick, or you'll never have use 
for another," was the emphatic command of the 
robber, accompanied by a very significant movement 
of the pistol arm. 

Thus appealed to, the engineer obeyed. The 
large hammer used by stokers to break coal was 
handed to the masked desperado. 

Then a group of the masked men, with the long- 
bearded man at their head, gathered at the door of 
the express car. One of the men with the coal- 
hammer then commenced beating in the door of the 
car. The messenger, who was in charge of 
a large sum of money— more than ^35,000 in cur- 



352 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

rency, and much other valuable property — was in- 
side, but had refused to open the door. The mes- 
senger, Mr. William Grimes, could hear the blows of 
the ponderous hammer, and knew that his place 
would soon be open to the marauders. The door 
was already yielding — it was falling to splinters, and 
a minute later the car was broken into by the masked 
and armed robbers. Grimes, in the meanwhile, had 
formed a hasty plan to escape with the money. 
While the robbers were beating in the door, he 
opened the safe, took therefrom a large amount of 
money, hastily deposited it in a satchel, re-locked 
the door of the safe, and was in the act of attempt- 
ing to escape by the other door. 

He was too late. The robbers sprang into the car 
before he was ready to leave it. In any event, es- 
cape was rendered impossible by the fact that the 
other door of the car was guarded. He could only 
have escaped a part of the band to fall into the 
hands of their comrades. 

When the robbers rushed into the car, after hav- 
ing broken the door open, one of them cried out to 
the messenger : 

" Here, you ! Give me that key ! '* 

" I will not. You may take it," answered the 
messenger. 

The words had no more than escaped his lips, 
when one of the gang in the car dealt him a terrible 
blow with the butt of a heavy revolver, which felled 
him to the floor. They took the key, opened the 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 353 

safe, and rifled it of all its contents which were of 
value to them. They then took the packages from 
the messenger's satchel, and the great railway and 
express robbery at Glendale was an accomplished 
fact. 

During the time occupied by a part of the robber 
band about the express car, a patrol was distributed 
along the sides of the train, and these were discharg- 
ing fire-arms at intervals, for the purpose, as is sup- 
posed, of intimidating the passengers. 

The whole time occupied in completing this great 
robbery probably did not exceed ten minutes. The 
whole amount of booty secured was probably fully 
forty thousand dollars. The passengers were greatly 
alarmed during these proceedings. Valuables were 
hastily concealed under seats, about the persons of 
the owners, and wherever else a place not likely to 
be examined by the robbers could be found. After 
concluding the work which brought them to Glen- 
dale, the brigands, amid the reports of pistol shots, 
set up a shout which echoed among the hills for a 
long distance around, sought their horses, mounted, 
and rode away through the gloom. They had locked 
the citizens in the little station-house. These waited 
until everything seemed still about the place, for the 
train had moved on, and then they broke down the 
door and walked out of their temporary prison- 
house. 



33 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

HUNTING CLUES. 

After the affair at Glendale, the marshal of Kan- 
sas City, Major James Liggett, a cool-tempered, 
clear-headed man, took charge of the case and 
directed all movements intended to result in the dis- 
covery of the robbers. It was soon ascertained 
beyond a doubt that Jesse James had been in Kansas 
City only a few days before the robbery. Then the 
inquiry proceeded as to who else had probably been 
participants. It came to the knowledge of the mar- 
shal that Jim Cummings, Ed. Miller, and a hard 
character named Blackamore, had been moving 
about the country in a suspicious way. Little by 
little, fragmentary scraps of information were se- 
cured, and a generalization of all the facts led to the 
general conclusion that the train robbery at Glen- 
dale had been effected under the direction of the 
James Boys ; that certainly Jesse, and probably 
Frank, had participated in it, and that Jim Cummings, 
Ed. Miller and Blackamore were probable accom- 
plices. 

The next important point to gain, was information 
concerning the route travelled by the bandits in 
their retreat from the scene of their lawless depreda- 
tion. This was not so easy a task as the uninitiated 

354 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 355 

might conclude. The character of much of the 
country in western Missouri, with the thorough 
knowledge of the region possessed by the principals 
in the outrage, forbade an easy discovery of the 
route which they had taken. But the marshal had 
called about him men as well acquainted with the 
country as any of Quantrell's old raiders could be, 
and the little information gathered by each one, finally 
brought together, led to the inference that they had 
gone in a southerly direction toward the Indian Ter- 
ritory. The inference afterward became a certainty. 
Their "trail" was discovered. 

Men were at once placed at various points on 
their probable line of retreat ; men were dispatched 
on their trail to hunt them to their places of con- 
cealment. There were men in western Missouri who 
had ridden with the old Guerrilla band, bold, daring 
men, who laid aside the weapons of destruction 
when the war closed ; men who had never learned 
the meaning of the word fear, who yet became weary 
of turmoil and strife, and settled down in life as 
quiet citizens, who long ago ceased to sympathize 
with their old comrades in their acts of outlawry, 
and who, notwithstanding their peaceable demeanor, 
were subjected to annoying suspicions at every re- 
currence of the visitations of their former associates ; 
who felt when the train was robbed at Glendale that 
it was time to take a positive stand on the side of the 
law and to co-operate with the officers in every en- 
deavor to put an end to such depredations for all 



35^ LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

time by capturing the depredators. These persons 
became active allies of Marshal Liggett in his efforts 
against the bandits, and materially contributed to the 
discovery of the robbers and the line which they had 
chosen on their retreat. So the active campaign 
began. There is reason to believe that after the 
robbery was consummated, at least a part of the 
band went into Clay county, and remained in seclu- 
sion there for some days. Then they started south. 
It was pending these events that Marshal Liggett 
made an arrangement with George W. Shepherd, 
formerly a Guerrilla captain, under whom Jesse 
James served near the close of the war, to take part 
in the campaign, then about to be prosecuted against 
the bandits. As subsequent events have brought 
Shepherd prominently before the public, and the 
mystery which attaches to some of the proceedings 
will continue to excite the interest of the public until 
it is cleared up, it is deemed best to present a brief 
history of the career of George W. Shepherd in this 
connection. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

GEORGE W. SHEPHERD. 

The name of George W. Shepherd, which attained 
prominence during the old Guerrilla times, when he 
was one of Quantreli's most trusted lieutenants, had 
passed out of the public mind, in a measure, until the 
events following the Glendale train robbery once 
more brought it prominently before the country. 

At the time of the affair at Glendale, Shepherd 
was following a peaceful avocation in Kansas City. 
It was known to the marshal of that place, 
and other officers of the law, that the relations 
subsisting between the James Boys and Shep- 
herd had been rather unfriendly for several 
years, and overtures were made looking to his 
engaging in the pursuit of the outlaws. Shepherd's 
reputation for desperate courage was not inferior 
to that of any other man in the days when he led a 
band of Quantreli's men, and when Marshal Liggett, 
of Kansas City, had obtained his consent to engage 
in the desperate undertaking, everyone expected 
some sensational denouement. A history of the 
Jameses, after the events which occurred since Glen- 
dale, would be incomplete without some notice of 
George W. Shepherd, the man who is credited with 
engaging in a terrible conflict with Jesse W. James 



358 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OP 

and his followers, near Joplin, Missouri, resulting in 
the alleged death of the outlaw, and in Shepherd's 
receiving a severe wound in the left leg. 

George W. Shepherd is a son of the late 
James Shepherd, a respectable farmer of Jackson 
county, Missouri. He was born near Independ- 
ence, January 17th, 1842, on a farm now be- 
longing to the Staten heirs. There were two 
brothers older than George, namely, John and James 
M., and one brother his junior^ whose name was 
WiUiam. J. M. Shepherd is now a respectable farmer 
in Jackson county. During his boyhood, George 
resided with his parents on the farm, and when of 
sufficient age he attended the neighborhood school 
for a few months every summer and winter urttil he 
was able " to read, write and cipher," as he expressed 
it. In early youth he manifested an adventurous 
and somewhat wayward disposition. In 1857 ^^ 
left home and proceeded to Utah, where he joined 
the army, at that time operating against the Mor- 
mons under the command of General Albert Sydney 
Johnston. The Shepherd family, which originally 
came from Virginia, were a race of pioneers, and the 
disposition of the subject of this notice to seek ex- 
citing adventure on the borderland of civihzation 
was legitimately inherited. 

After a varied experience, and absence of two 
years, George returned to Missouri in the autumn of 
1859, and resumed farming operations with his 
brothers. He continued in this employment on a 



FkANK AND JESSE JAMES. 359 

farm about one mile and a half distant from Inde- 
pendence, until the commencement of warlike prep- 
arations in 1861. Seized by the prevailing military 
fever, and his surroundings being all Southern, George 
W. Shepherd was among the first to cast his lot with 
the Confederate recruits. He enlisted in company 
A, Captain Duncan's, of Rosser's regiment. This 
command participated in the great battles fought at 
Wilson's Creek and Pea Ridge, and engaged in many 
other skirmishes in Missouri and Arkansas, in all of 
which he took a part. When the Confederate army, 
under the command of General Sterling Price, was 
ordered to the east of the Mississippi, young Shep- 
herd returned to Jackson county, and soon afterward 
joined Quantrell's command of Guerrillas. 

The war record of Shepherd would fill a volume 
if written out in full. For this we have not the space. 
We can only summarize the chief events in this part 
of his career. We first hear of George Shepherd in 
a desperate charge made by Quantrell's men 
on the garrison at Independence, in February, 
1862. On that occasion he and a comrade, Wil- 
liam Gregg, swept down one of the streets of 
Independence, causing the greatest consternation, 
an inflicting no little damage on the soldiers of 
Coi. Burris' command. From that day forward 
Shepherd took rank among the most daring of 
Quantrell's men. 

When Quantrell's small command of twenty men 
was surrounded at night by a large Federal force, 



360 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

while asleep in the Tate house, near Santa Fe, Jack- 
son county, Missouri, in March 1862, Shepherd was 
with the Guerrillas there, and was selected to guard 
one of the doors of the house. The conflict which 
ensued was terrible. After some minutes' fighting, 
and when the house had been fired, the Federals de- 
sired a parley with a view of inducing the Guerrillas 
to surrender. Shepherd commanded the men who 
defended the lower rooms of the house. He asked 
for twenty minutes time. It could not be granted. 
For ten minutes. No. For five minutes then. No, 
if the Guerrillas did not yield within one minute, not 
a man of them should escape, was the ultimatum of 
the Federal officer. ** Then count sixty," exclaimed 
Shepherd, "and take the consequences." The fight 
was renewed. That house had become a pandemo- 
nium. In it were such men as Cole Younger, 
Stephen Shores, John Jarrette, James Little, Hoy, 
Haller, and others. The Federal commander per- 
mitted Major Tate and his family to leave the house. 
Then the fighting was resumed more fiercely than 
before. The building was on fire. It was manifest 
that the Guerrillas would be forced to evacuate 
their fortress. It was resolved to break through the 
Federal line. Quantrell led the desperate charge, 
followed by George Shepherd, Jarrette, Younger, 
Toler, Little, Hoy and others. Seventeen men made 
the attempt, and succeeded in making their escape. 
Three had surrendered before the attempt was 
made. 



\ 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 36 1 

Once, in the spring of 1862, George Shepherd, 
Cole Younger and Oliver Shepherd were surrounded 
at the house of John Shepherd, in Jackson county. 
Their peril was imminent. The Federal force num- 
bered ten to their one. Cole Younger was about to 
lead a desperate sortie, when Martin Shepherd, 
Scott, Little and John Coger came up and attacked 
the Federals in the rear. The diversion enabled the 
Shepherds and Younger to escape from the house. 

Soon after the incident noted above, George 
Shepherd and Cole Younger were detailed to go 
into Jackson county for the purpose of collecting 
ammunition. They had collected a large amount of 
the materials of war which were most needed in 
Quantrell's command. One day they went to find 
a wagon to convey the ammunition to camp. They 
were at a house behind which was an orchard, and 
this had been sown in rye which was now tall and 
luxuriant. While at this house .seventy-five Federal 
troopers surrounded the place, and demanded their 
surrender. They refused, and made a rush to the 
rye-grown orchard ground, where they had hitched 
their horses. Beyond the orchard was a skirt of 
timber, now clothed in luxuriant green. They 
gained the orchard in safety, although followed by a 
storm of bullets. Mounting, they made a dash for 
the forest. But they were not destined to reach it 
unscathed. Three buckshot had penetrated the body 
of Cole Younger, and George Shepherd was hit 
hard and badly wounded. He, however, continued 



362 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OP 

his flight until he reached a shelter where he could-, 
receive surgical attention. 

It was about harvest time, 1862, that Major Pea- 
Dody undertook to capture Quantrell's band by a 
vigorous movement with superior forces. The two 
joined issue at Swearingen's place, a (qw miles from 
Pleasant Hill, Cass county. A series of desperate 
encounters followed. The Guerrillas were forced to 
seek shelter in the woods. In the fights which en- 
sued, George Shepherd lost his horse. The Guerril- 
las suffered fearfully, both in the neighborhood of 
Swearingen's barn, and later in a depression near 
Fred. Farmer's house. A number of Quantrell's 
followers were seriously wounded. George Shep- 
herd had great difficulty in escaping from this san- 
guinary engagement. He was again wounded, 
though not severely. 

Col, Upton Hayes, Col. Gideon Thompson and 
Col. John T. Hughes, co-operating, resolved upon 
attacking Independence, then garrisoned by a Fed- 
eral force of about five hundred men, under com- 
mand of Col. J. T. Buell, now of St. Louis. The Con- 
federate forces numbered about seven hundred. 
Quantrell was requested to aid the enterprise, and 
joined his forces with the regular Confederate troops 
in an attack on Independence. George Shepherd 
was there, and fought with desperate valor. After 
the battle was over, when Quantrell was asked to 
name the men of his command who had most dis- 
tinguished themselves for daring courage, George 



l^RANK AND JESSE JAMES. 363 

Shepherd was designated as one among half a dozen 
others. 

In the early days of the autumn of 1862, George 
Todd, commanding about fifty men, prepared an 
ambuscade, with rifle pits, on the road leading from 
Kansas City to Harrisonville. The place was ad- 
mirably selected, and the utmost caution and vigi- 
lance was observed in guarding it, but it came near 
being a slaughter-pen for the Guerrillas. One even- 
ing he succeeded in destroying a wagon train, and 
scattering the escort which accompanied it. But 
sometime afterward, Gregg, Scott, Haller and Shep- 
herd, with a number of followers, re-occupied the 
rifle pits. George Shepherd was sent out on the 
road toward Harrisonville, south of the ambuscade. 
It was, perhaps, past teri o'clock at night. The rifle 
pits were still, and the droning hum of insects was 
the only sound to break the silence. Shepherd was 
motionless at his post down the road. Suddenly he 
was made conscious of the presence of an enemy, 
by a tall form which rose up at his right stirrup — a 
form which had apparently come from the shadows 
around him. But it was no apparition conjured up 
by a disordered brain. The leveling of a gun barrel 
at his breast, and the sharp utterance of the single 
word, " Surrender ! " convinced George Shepherd 
that the form was very real. A glance satisfied him 
that crouching forms were all about him, and all were 
armed. He threw himself forward, shot the dis- 
mounted trooper in the breast as he whirled his 



3^4 



LiFJE AND ADVENTURES OF 



horse around, and received a scattering volley as he 
dashed away to arouse his comrades in the rifle pits. 
The Federal forces were under command of Major 
Hubbard, a gallant officer of the Sixth Missouri 
Cavalry. He had received full information about 




Geo. W. Shepherd, 



Todd's rifle pits, had dismounted his command, and 
but for Shepherd's extraordinary nerve and presence 
of mind, he would have made a complete surprise of 
the Guerrilla garrison. As it was, a terrible conflict 






FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 365 

ensued, and a number of Federals were killed and 
eight of the Guerrillas were wounded, among them 
Shepherd, who received a slight flesh wound. 

In August, 1863, Quantrell began to rally around 
his standard all the small, detached bands in West- 
ern Missouri for his expedition against Lawrence, 
Kansas. At this time Shepherd was one of his con- 
fidential advisers. In that grim council of war, sum- 
moned by the Guerrilla chieftain to consider the fea- 
sibility of engaging in such an enterprise, George 
Shepherd sat among the stern, relentless warriors of 
the border. 

When Fletcher Taylor returned from Lawrence, 
whither he had gone to obtain information concern- 
ing the military situation there, and made his report 
at Quantrell's headquarters to the assembled lead- 
ers, the Chief spoke : 

" You have heard the report. Before you decide, 
you should know it all. The march to Lawrence is 
a long one ; in every little village there are soldiers. 
We leave soldiers behind us ; we march between gar- 
risons of soldiers ; we attack a town guarded by sol- 
diers ; we must retreat through swarms of armed men ; 
and when we would rest after such an exhaustive 
march, we must do so with soldiers all about us, and 
do the best we can. Come, speak out, somebody ! 
What is it. Shepherd? " 

Thus appealed to, the answer came deliberately 
and firmly from George Shepherd : 

** Lawrence! I know the place of old. They 



366 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

111 ike no difference there between negroes and white 
people. It is a Boston colony, and it should be 
cleared out." 

And the others gave similar replies, and so the 
expedition, which was destined to be fraught with 
consequences so baleful, was resolved upon. George 
Shepherd went with the rest of the command, and 
in the terrors and tragedies of that dreadful day, he 
had his share. 

The winter of 1863-4, Shepherd spent in Quan- 
trell's camp, in the vicinity of Sherman, Texas, lead- 
ing a comparatively inactive life; but the following 
summer he was engaged in innumerable skirinishes. 
At Pink Hill, in Johnson county, at Pleasant Hill, 
at Keytesville, and many other places the fighting 
was severe. Then came the mustering to aid Gen- 
eral Price. In that summer campaign the Guerrillas 
took a conspicuous part. Toward the middle of 
September, Bill Anderson was carrying destruction 
to many neighborhoods in North Pvlissotiri. Todd 
and Anderson combined, had a force of a little 
more than two hundred men. In this troop rode 
George Shepherd. He was present at Centralia. 
The particulars of that dreadful day's work are given 
in another place in this volume, and need not now 
be recited. It may be accepted as a fact that 
George Shepherd performed his part in that carnival 
of Death. 

Price and Shelby were compelled to retire from 
Missouri. In a desperate encounter vyith the Federal 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 367 

advance, in pursuit of the retiring Confederate army, 
Todd, who was protecting the rear, was killed. 
George Shepherd succeeded him in the command, 
and after lingering awhile in Missouri, he led the 
remainder of the once formidable band of Guerrillas, 
save about twenty men, who went with Quantrell 
into Kentucky — to Texas. The forces under Shep- 
herd had fighting all the way. The Indians beset 
their pathway and struck at them viciously as they 
marched. Among those who went to Texas with 
this force was Jesse James. In the following spring 
the Guerrillas, or at least a part of them, returned. 
The cause of the Confederacy had suffered. Lee 
surrendered. Johnston followed. The catastrophe 
came ; the Confederacy was no more. Then the 
Guerrillas of Missouri were permitted to go in and 
surrender, and all save eight men of the band which 
Shepherd had led back from Texas surrendered. 
His career as a Guerrilla had ended, and Shepherd 
went to Kentucky soon after the close of the war. 



CHAPTER L. 

PURSUIT OF THE GLENDALE ROBBERS. 

During the days succeeding the robbery, the mar- 
shal had learned sufficient to satisfy him that the 
robbers had gone into retreat in Clay county ; and 
becoming aware of the fact that Shepherd was 
w^orking in Kansas City, the officer sought him out 
and engaged him as a detective to assist him in the 
pursuit. Shepherd consented, and it was arranged 
that he should, in some way, place himself in com- 
munication with the gang. The unfriendly relations 
existing between Shepherd and the Jameses pre- 
sented a serious difficulty. The plan adopted to 
overcome this w^as shrewdly devised. A story was 
told, and industriously circulated, that it was a mat- 
ter of little doubt that George W. Shepherd was 
engaged in the robbery, and that in consequence he 
had tied to parts unknown. This was not all; ]\Iar- 
shal Liggett had printed on a slip of paper, already 
printed on one side, an item to the effect that Shep- 
herd was believed to be implicated in the robbery, 
it was reported to have been clipped from one of the 
Kansas City papers. What follows in relation to 
this enterprise is based upon the statements of Shep- 
iicrd. He relates that he went to Clay county, vis- 
ited the residence of Mrs. Samuels ; saw that lady; 

368 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 369 

told her a story about his persecution by the detec- 
tives about the Glendale business; showed her the 
pseudo newspaper clipping, and expressed a desire 
to become a member of the gang; that hewasbUnd- 
folded ; led a long way, and when relieved of his 
eye bandages, he found himself in the midst of the 
gang confronted by Jesse James ; that his reception 
was anything but pleasant, but that finally he was 
able to convince them that he, like themselves, was 
hunted ; that he became cognizant of all their plans, 
and then sought and obtained permission to go into 
Kansas City after having taken a terrible oath to re- 
veal nothing and act true in every respect with the 
band. He came into Kansas City, related all that he 
had seen and heard to the marshal ; was furnished a 
fleet horse, pistols and blankets, and returned to the 
gang. Liggett was informed by Shepherd that they 
would leave Clay county at a certain time ; that they 
would cross near Sibley at a certain other time, and 
would be at a certain place at a certain hour, where 
he could see them if he so desired. Marshal Liggett, 
acting upon this information, proceeded to the point 
designated, and at the hour named he had the satis- 
faction of seeing a party of armed men cross at the 
previously announced place, and among them recog- 
nized his chosen detective. Shepherd. The robbers 
passed on southward. Rogue's Island is in the river 
Marais des Cygnes, not far from Fort Scott. Here 
the band camped one night. Their plan was to rob 
the bank of Street & McArthur at Short Creek, 

23 



3/0 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

Kansas. This was to be effected on Sunday even- 
ing, Nov. 2d, at 3 o'clock. When Shepherd arrived 
in the camp on Shoal Creek, about nine miles south- 
east of Short Creek, he exhibited his pseudo news 
item to Jesse James, and in other ways succeeded in 
convincing him that he was also an outlaw, and 
Shepherd was thenceforward treated as *' a man and 
a brother." He states that the party consisted of 
Jesse James, Jim Cummings, Ed. Miller, and Sam 
Kaufman. It has been ascertained that the person 
who was supposed to be Sam Kaufman was one 
Blackamore. The plan to rob the bank was known 
to the authorities, and contrary to the pre-arranged 
measures for the capture of the outlaws, the guard of 
armed men who were to have been in waiting at the 
hour appointed for the raid, went on duty early in 
the morning. Jesse James that morning went from 
the Shoal Creek camp to Short Creek, and was in the 
town when the guardsmen assumed their places, 
and he noted everything. Of course this mistake 
on the part of those engaged in the efforts to capture 
them, caused a change in the plans of the gang. 
Shepherd, well armed and mounted, rode to the camp 
in the afternoon, after having been informed by Jesse 
James of the situation at Short Creek in the morning 
when they met. He found the brigands much alarmed, 
preparing to break camp. Mike and Tom Cleary, 
two of Shepherd's assistants, were to form an 
ambuscade, but this part of the arrangement failed 
because of the sudden movement of the band. Shep- 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 371 

herd was to proceed to camp, provoke a quarrel 
with Jesse, shoot him and flee, when of course the 
other members of the gang would follow. But the 
camp was broken up too soon. The ambushers 
could not reach their place in time. Shepherd re- 
lates that they were riding scattered out in the woods ; 
that he was riding near, and a little in the rear of 
Jesse James ; that he suddenly drew a pistol, called 
out, " Damn you, Jesse James ! thirteen years ago 
you killed my cousin, Frank Shepherd." At the first 
word Jesse wheeled his horse and sought his pistol. 
He was too late. Shepherd fired, the ball taking 
effect just behind the left ear, and Jesse James fell 
heavily to the ground. After firing. Shepherd says 
no one moved for a few seconds, when he, suddenly 
realizing his position, wheeled his horse around, and 
driving his spurs deep into the animal's flanks, 
dashed away. At the same time Cummings rode 
furiously toward him, while Miller went to the as- 
sistance of the fallen chief. The pursuit of Cummings 
was persistent and rapid. Blackamore soon fell 
behind in the chase, but Cummings gained on Shep- 
herd -until at last it became necessary for the latter 
to make a stand and fight it out there. As he 
wheeled his horse to carry out this resolution, a ball 
from Cummings' pistol took effect in the calf of 
Shepherd's left leg. The firing which had been 
maintained during a chase of three miles, now be- 
came quick and furious, and the result for a time 
was doubtful. At last, Shepherd says, a ball took 



3/2 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

effect in Cummings* side, and he turned his horse and 
rode back through the woods by the way they came. 
Shepherd rode into Short Creek to have his wound 
attended to. 

The foregoing is Shepherd's account of his pur- 
suit of the Glendale robbers and contest with Jesse 
James. But developments since do not sustain the 
statements in many important particulars. The re- 
lation appears to be correct up to the time of the 
shooting, but it is now clear that he did not wound 
Jesse James. 

The truth is, that Jesse James was at all times sus- 
picious of Shepherd's motives, and from the time he 
joined them he was watched with a ceaseless vigi- 
lance. The outlaws had little confidence in his pro- 
testations, and his movements were carefully ob- 
served. They went into camp on Shoal Creek, 
Shepherd being with them. According to their 
custo n they arranged to remove to another camping 
place about three miles away the next day. It was 
Saturday night, and Shepherd obtained the consent 
of his ostensible confederates to go into Short 
Creek. One of the brigands, assuming a disguise, 
followed him for the purpose of watching his move- 
ments. 

This man discovered that Shepherd was laying a 
train for the capture of the band. During Sunday 
morning, it appears Shepherd met Jesse James, who 
informed him that " the game was up " in Short 
Creek, and that they had been given away. Shep- 



tRANiC AND JESSE JAMES, 3/3 

herd agreed in this view of the situation, and the two 
separated. Later in the day Shepherd went to the 
camp, where he had left them. It was deserted, but 
he found their trail, and followed it to where the 
new camp was established. The fact that it was not 
the place which had been selected in Shepherd's 
presence ought to have warned him that his situation 
was one of extreme peril. But it appears that he did 
not consider this evidence that he was distrusted, 
and approached the camp. The moment he appeared 
Jim Cummings opened fire upon him, and mounting 
his horse gave chase. Both men were well mounted, 
but Cummings* horse was the superior one of the 
two. Shepherd, placing the reins of the bridle in his 
teeth, and drawing two revolvers, the fight com- 
menced. He received a bullet wound in the calf 
of his left leg, and in turn shot Cummings in the 
right side, which fractured the sixth rib and wounded 
the intercostal artery. Some fragments of clothing, 
driven into the wound, arrested the flow of 
blood from the artery, else the probabilities are that 
the wound would have proved fatal. As it was, the 
surgeon, who has furnished the above facts, removed 
the foreign matter, took out some fragments of bone, 
put a ligature on the artery, and in a short time the 
wounded bandit went on his way. 

It is asserted as a fact, that Jesse James was 
neither wounded nor killed, but rode away a picture 
of health and vitality. The peril of Shepherd was 
imminent. Had he not wounded Cummings, that 



374 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

desperado would soon have come up with him, when 
the death of one or both of them would have been 
inevitable. 

The whole relation but confirms what has been 
reiterated in the pages of this volume, that the re- 
sources and shrewdness of Jesse James are truly 
wonderful; that in all respects he and his brother 
are men of extraordinary capacity, and that in cour- 
age, skill, adroitness, and vitality, they are men 
strangely endowed. What they may yet accomplish 
is hidden in the unrevealed future, which to our 
questioning returns no answer. 



CHAPTER LI. 

ALLEN PARMER. 

Allen Parmer is a Missourian. His boyhood 
days were passed principally in Jackson county. 
When the late war broke over the country, Allen 
Parmer was a youth, little fitted to enter the ranks 
with fighting men. Yet he became a member of 
Quantrell's band. He first came into prominence 
among his comrades in August, 1863, at the capture 
and sack of Lawrence, Kansas. That day Parmer 
was a member of the squad led by Bill Anderson, 
who murdered without compunction and destroyed 
without feeling. He escaped with the rest of the 
band. He was at Independence; at Lone Jack; at 
Camden; at Weston; in their lairs among the Sni 
Hills, and along the waters of the Blues. He was 
one of the six men who remained with Todd 
at Judge Gray's house, near Bone Hill, Jackson 
county, when Captain John Chestnut arrived in that 
neighborhood, in September, 1864, bearing a com- 
munication from General Price to the Guerrillas, 
which at once caused a rally of the old partisans. 
He was selected by Lieut. Geo. W. Shepherd as one 
of the picked men ordered on a dangerous expedi- 
tion to the north side of the Missouri. The Guerrilla 
campaign there was sh . but b'ooJ}'. The; terrible 

375 



37^ 



LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 



massacre and rout at Centralia was the crowning 
event, and Parmer performed a conspicuous part in 
that conflict. All through the operations of the 
Guerrillas he was one of the most daring in the band. 
He was one of the executioners of Bradley Bond, a 




Allen Parmer. 
(Williams & Thomson, Photographers, Kansas City, Mo.) 
militiaman of Clay county. He and Frank James 
captured the man, and afterward he was shot. 

When Missouri no longer offered a field for opera- 
tions, and Quantrell entered upon his last campaign 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. ^^f 

in Kentucky, Allen Parmer was one of the old Guer- 
rillas who followed him. The Federal garrison was 
compelled to surrender at Hustonville, Lincoln 
county, Kentucky. Thenceforward Quantrell was 
known in his true character. In a fight in Jessamine 
county, George Roberson and a member of Quan- 
trell's command, was captured, taken to Louisville, 
and confined in prison, but subsequently escaped. 
Afterward he was captured again, taken to Lexing- 
ton, transferred to Louisville once more, and there 
arraigned before a court-martial, tried, convicted and 
sentenced to be hanged on a charge of murdering 
the Federal major at Hustonville, who fell by the 
hand of Parmer. Roberson was afterward publicly 
executed at Louisville. 

Parmer took part in all the dreadful frays of Quan- 
trell's little band in Kentucky. 

When peace once more brooded over the land, he 
returned to Missouri, and commenced a commission 
business in St. Louis, with J. W. Shawhan for a part- 
ner, under the style of Shawhan & Co. This was in 
1866. It does not appear that the firm was very 
successful. Parmer is said to have lost several 
thousand dollars in this venture. Later, the business 
was closed out. Payne Jones, and some others, 
among them Jim White, a friend of Parmer, were im- 
plicated in a bank robbery at Richmond, Mo. Mayor 
Shaw was killed at that time. Suspicion attached 
to Parmer as being one of the robbers, and he was 
arrested, but, on examination, discharged. Then 



37^ LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

he led a sort of roving lif.^ for some years, some- 
times in Missouri, then i:i Texas, soaiotiiiies in Col- 
orado, then in the Indian Terr'^ory. Finally he 
came to regard Texas as his home. In 1870 he re- 
turned to Jackson county, where his boyhood had 
been passed. For a long time his relations with the 
James family had been friendly, and when he came 
to woo Miss Susan James, the sister of Frank and 
Jesse, she did not deny his suit, and they were mar- 
ried, and removed to Arkansas the same year. He 
remained in that state during the autumn and win- 
ter, and in the spring of 1871 he removed with his 
family to Texas. For a time, his wife taught a 
school at Sherman. Subsequently, Parmer estab- 
lished a ranche near Henriette, Clay county, Texas, 
about 120 miles west of Sherman. Clay county lies 
on the Red river, directly south of the Kiowa In- 
dian reservation. Here he had all the freedom he 
desired, and for some years he tended his herds 
and was prosperous. He frequently made trips to 
Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago with droves of 
cattle. 

When the train robbery at Glendale took place, 
the authorities sought for clues to the robbers in 
every direction. Mr. Grimes, the express messen- 
ger who was knocked down by one of the robbers 
who wore no mask, was able to give a vivid and 
minute description of the features of his assailant, 
and that description suited the personnel of Parmer. 
Deputy Marshal Whig Keshlear was dispatched to 
Texas by Marshal Liggett to effect Parmer's arrest. 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 379 

He proceeded to Sherman, where he met and con- 
ferred with Mr. Everhart, sheriff of Grayson county. 
That officer readily consented to assist in the ar- 
rest of Parmer, and proceeded at once to his 
ranche, near Henriette. The officers effected the 
arrest without difficulty on the 2d day of November, 
1879, under a requisition from Governor Phelps, of 
Missouri. 

Parmer was taken by the officers to Sherman. He 
was followed by a number of his friends from Clay 
county. There the prisoner attempted to regain his 
hberty by a writ of habeas corpus. But the judge 
before whom the writ was returned ruled out testi- 
mony, and remanded the prisoner to the custody of 
the officers from Missouri, in obedience to the * 
requisition of the governor of that state. Parmer 
took exceptions and appealed. Marshal Liggett, 
however, had sworn out a warrant for his arrest be- 
fore a United States Commissioner, charging him 
with interrupting the United States mail. But this 
was unnecessary, for, on hearing the case, the state 
authorities of Texas discharged the writ, and re- 
manded the prisoner again to the custody of the 
Missouri officers, who at once set out for Kansas 
City, where they arrived with their prisoner Sunday 
morning, November 23d, and Parmer was promptly 
incarcerated in the Jackson county jail. He emphat- 
ically denied all complicity in the Glendale affair, or 
any knowledge of the parties who accomplished the 
robbery, and after four weeks' imprisonment he was 
discharged by the Grand jury, the authorities failing; 
to connect him, in any way, with the Glendale afHiir. 



CHAPTER LII. 

JESSE JAMES STILL A FREE ROVER. 

** Still Fate, regardless of a mortal's woe, 
May have reserved for him a cruel blow— 

A blow more dreaded than the passing breath, 
Of the grim spectre men call gLomy death.'' 

It required no ordinary sagacity to escape the 
environments which his daring deeds had created 
for him, after the robbery at Glendale. Had Jesse 
James been other than a man of extraordinary 
capacity in great emergencies, his career would have 
been brought to an inglorious close before the clock 
of Time would have indicated the commencement 
of the New Year, 1880. But the destiny which 
seems to guide him once more manifested itself, and 
Jesse James, the bandit, rode through difficulties and 
dangers, and away to repose and freedom on the far 
off plains of Texas. There were many persons who 
believed that the reported death of Jesse James was 
true; that the account of the bloody duel between 
George W. Shepherd and Jim Cummings, was confir- 
matory of the statement of the former, that he had 
shot Jesse James. It is probable after that fateful 
Sunday in the deep recesses of a Southwest Missouri 
forest, and the terrible peril to which he was there 
subjected, that Shepherd really believed he had shot 
Jesse. But, be that as it may, there were many 
people who resolutely insisted uoon it. that Jesse 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 38 I 

James rode away unscathed. Time has disclosed 
the fact that they were correct. Several circum- 
stances combine to show that Jesse went away from 
the vicinity of Short Creek, after the Cummings- 
Shepherd conflict, in tlie enjoyment of perfect 
health. 

. A few days after Christmas, the newspapers of 
Kansas City announced the arrival in that city of 
Mrs. Jesse James, from what point they did not say, 
perhaps because they did not know. Mrs. James 
visited relatives and friends in Kansas City for 
several days, and her conduct was not at all like that 
of a recently bereaved widow. After spending 
some days pleasantly in the city, she proceeded with 
Mrs. Dr. Samuels to the residence of that lady near 
Kearney, Clay County, which fact was duly gazetted 
in the society notes of the St. Louis and Kansas 
City journals. Mrs. Samuels herself, though pro- 
fessing to believe the reports concerning the death 
of her son, yet did not act as thougli the conviction 
had taken a very firm hold upon her mind. Mrs. 
Jesse James remained some days at the residence of 
her mother-in-law, and then suddenly she concluded 
to visit her relatives and friends in Logan and Nelson 
Counties, Kentucky. These movements of the sup- 
posed widow of the late dreaded leader of the Glen- 
dale robbers does not appear to have attracted any 
great amount of attention from the officers of the 
law. Indeed it appears Marshal Liggett had not 
yet abandoned the opinion entertained by him, that 
George W. Shepherd had shot and seriously if not 
fatally wouM<ied the noted outlaw. 



382 FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 

One day, after the middle of January, 1880, a 
young man of respectability, residing in Kansas City, 
who had been entrusted with a certain message to 
dehver at Russellvilie, Ky., called upon another 
young gentleman of his acquaintance, and invited 
him to accompany the first-mentioned young man to 
Kentucky. It was a mistake on the part of the 
message bearer, for the young man was no admirer 
of the methods of the chief of the Glendale band, 
and, after revolving the proposition in his mind, he 
came to the conclusion to acquaint Major Liggett 
with the facts in his possession. This he did. The 
marshal urged him to accept the invitation, and pro- 
ceed to Kentucky with .his friend. It is intimated 
that he supplied the necessary funds to enable the 
young gentleman to make the journey. The two 
men started. There lives in Kansas City a gentle- 
man who has known the James Boys, and who is not 
their enemy, even now. This gentleman received 
an intimation of what was going on, and learned 
definitely the aims of the marshal. In half an hour 
a message — it matters not what words were em- 
ployed, they were significant — was sent to Louis- 
ville, to a friend. That friend received it, understood 
it, and a message was at once sent to a person in 
Russellvilie. Meanwhile, the conscientious young 
man and his friend journeyed in the ordinary course 
of travel toward Rusr.ellville. a Arrived there, the 
message-bearer cut his companion of the journey, and 
the latter could learn nothing to report to the mar- 
shal of Kansas City. The person to whom the mes- 
sage came understood precis :ly what it nuait. aid the 



FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. 383 

person whom Pinkerton and his employes have often 
sought, once more found a quiet retreat, where he 
cannot be readily discovered. 

There are several stories afloat with regard to the 
course taken by Jesse James after the Cummings- 
Shepherd conflict. The following is understood to 
be a correct narrative. Sunday night the party of 
robbers separated, each man taking a route of his 
own selection. Cummings was first cared for and 
left in a secure place. Jesse James made a detour 
toward the east, arid then turned northward. He 
remained in St. Clair county two days, and came into 
Jackson county while the attention of everyone was 
directed to the marshal's posse pushing down through 
the Indian Territory to Texas. In Jackson county 
he remained for some days, and when it suited his 
convenience he proceeded to Texas by a route of his 
own selection, without molestation. Afterward he 
desired to enjoy a little civilized life and went to 
Kentucky, where he was joined by Mrs. James. 
But when the marshal's agent arrived in the region 
he was not there. 

Thus the great outlaw roves at will over the coun- 
try, and all the skill of men clothed with authority 
to entrap him has for so long a time proved unequal 
to the task. But it is said by those who are in a 
position to know, that he longs to retire from the busi- 
ness of an outlaw, make peace with society and 
prove by an examplary life in the future that his 
nature is not wholly bad. 



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ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRa VJNGS, 




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